Wisteria care?

Hi, I have four Wisteria plants I planted last year that are doing really well. I made a huge arbor for them, one on each pole and they made it to the top last year and crossed over part of the way. They are now just starting to leaf again. Anyone have any hints on how to give them that extra boost? Do I need to fertilize? Do they normally leaf this time of the year, and will I need to trim this year?





Thanks for any advise...





**** I have read that prolific Wisteria is extremely overtaking in the states and difficult to control, but I have a controlled and maintained garden in the Netherlands, this doesn't seem to be a problem here in this zone (my part of Europe). ****

Wisteria care?
I speak from experience.....we help our next door neighbor cut back his wisteria right after it blooms in the spring to make it bloom the following year. It works every time. We cut it back by as much as 1/3 to 1/2. It RECOVERS quickly. LOL! But it can also be cut back a couple of feet from the tip ends right after it blooms in the spring if you don't want to be so drastic. It blooms heavily every spring and is a beautiful green the rest of the summer.





One year the wisteria kept hitting our neighbor in the face while he was mowing, he got mad and cut it all the way to the ground. The next spring it was so heavy with flowers that you could not see the branches. It was absolutely beautiful! If we had one in our yard, I would cut it to the ground right after it blooms every spring. And like I said above, they recover quickly and are pretty all summer long.





If your lawn fertilizer is washing over into the soil of your wisteria, it will not bloom. Lawn fertilizer will cause pretty green leaves, but no flowers not only on the wisteria but any flower or shrub.





Like everything else, your beautiful wisteria needs watering.





You can do the same with honeysuckles and trumpet vines.
Reply:Wisterias aren't demanding at all when it comes to fertilizer. I've seen wisterias that haven't been tended for years doing ten times better than ones that are fussed over.





However, if your blooms are off-color or sparse, or if you just want an extra boost, make sure you use a rose-type fertilizer, and the best time to apply it is late winter or mid-spring. Rose fertilizer has the same balance of nutrients that wisterias enjoy, and I stress that, because other kinds of fertilizer may result negatively.





Congrats on the success so far!