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It is possible to contain growth of Boston Ivy (Parthenocissus) with low votage electric wire. A friend has asked me if something equivalent existed for wisteria. The low voltage wire does NOT work for wisteria. So What else ? Any tricks or tips to trim or tend this plant easily ?

I was thinking of setting de long and narrow plastic sheet below the edge of the roof, curving the top of this sheet away from the roof, so as to entice the wisteria branches to reach in the air and away from the building. What do you think ? Could this do the trick to protect the roof from wisteria invasion ?

Any trick for stunting growth or pruning ?

Anna
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  • PHotos of the plant would be useful, and extra info such as how long the plant's been in situ, or its age. Was the requisite initial training not carried out, together with a twice a year pruning routine? What kind of support is it on? – Bamboo Sep 27 '12 at 11:49

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Pruning wisteria is easy as long as you have a ladder or platform to work off, in spring one prunes new growth to every third bud and in august cut all the whipsy growths back to five buds and thats it or alternatively you can prune it very hard into old wood every year in late summer to allow the cuts to dry before winter- if you do it in spring they will bleed and get infected with mildew- prune the shrub into a basic shape you want and tie in new growths onto wire supported onthe structure you want to cover, in about three years it will cover a surface enough in summer, that one can't see the wall underneath. If you do it wrong don't worry it will grow back with added energy! and you can retrain it from there onwards. The other idea is to visit an old garden open to the public and ask the gardeners there how they would do it?

olantigh
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Wisteria smishteria, It will grow back thicker so do not take it lightly on the wisteria if it is threatening your house. In my experience it is like pulling gum out of your hair. If there are any areas the wisteria can be burnt, I would use a blow torch. That is my solution for weeds in cracks also. Safety first though, have adult supervision and a fire fighter there just in case. On a Lighter Note a fun way to fight this perpetual battle could be butterflies. Marine Blue butterflies love some Wisteria. This will take at least a year or two to have any effect because 90% or something like that of their consumed diet is in caterpiller form. Here are a list of plants that butterflies enjoy. •Butterfly Bush (Buddleia) •Lantana •Zinnias •Bee balm •Purple coneflowers •Pentas •Sage •Butterfly Weed (Asclepias tuberosa) or other milkweeds •Lilac •Sunflower •Marjoram •Hebe I can not say how affective they will be, I would love to know, but if gardening and attracting butterflies would be a hobby that you would also enjoy then it would be worth pursuing.

Four_lo
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