Wisteria doesn't have to be the thug that it most often is written up to be. The key is in the pruning, which also gets you more flowers. And the flowers are beautiful.

There is a great video on correctly pruning wisteria at this link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvmgNSWoPgY

Here is a link that might be useful: Pruning wisteria

If the garage is attached to the house and you do not keep up with the pruning it will cover the garage and move on to the house in 5 years. Yes it can be controlled if you are vigilant with pruning every year. If there are trees nearby it can reach out from the top of the garage and start climbing into them too. So the key is to be very careful where you site it, and if you let it climb up onto anything know that it will keep going!

We took down our old metal awning support this year. We had grown wisteria on the awning support (patio sized 10 x 12') for 15 years. Apparently patio sized awnings were hip in the 1970s when our rancher was built. The awning supports were very sturdy: my 200 lb. teenage boys can swing on them without bending. The wisteria trunks were 8-12 inches in diameter after 15 years.

During the summer months, if it rained, the wisteria had to be trimmed every two weeks. Each trimming filled two trash cans (you can't compost it). It grew up under the roof shingles in a week if we didn't keep it cut far back from the house. I pruned according to the literature and got flowers for three different years out of the 15 years. Still don't know why it flowered or why not. This year we replaced the old awning supports and wisteria with a wooden pergola and we don't miss it!

I do have three sprouts that survived on my swap list if anyone wants a vigorous twining climber! They are about five feet tall at this point.

Wisteria macrostachya 'Blue Moon' is much less agressive than the asian wisteria. It is only supposed to get about 15-20 feet rather than the 30-40 etc.

Wow, I'm even more paranoid now. The garage is detached and about 15 feet from the nearest trees. But I don't want to be pruning every couple of weeks. (and Kimka, thanks for the great links on that.)

Now I'm thinking I could put this in a community garden we work on. It's an isolated triangle in the middle of two streets. Full sun. But there would be nothing to for it to climb on....so I guess that wouldn't work.

I'm regretting spending the $30 for the plant now!

chriskelly, but you bought the blue moon type, it's not as aggressive. you'll probably be ok.

archtropical - Very little is aggressive in your zone 4 compared to the warmer climates of this area. You probably didn't realize you were in Mid Atlantic forum?

Hi Cynthia. Yes, I realized I was in the Mid Atlantic forum. I just wanted to let others know how wonderful 'Blue Moon' is. I've seen aggressive wisteria in my area. My largest Chinese wisteria is finally sending out a few new branches, so it did not totally die after all. I keep my oriental wisteria pruned back every year. Otherwise I can see that it could possibly take off the roof of my garden shed. It has a fairly good sized trunk, even in zone 4.

Amethyst Falls vs Blue Moon Wisteria: Must Read Before Making a Decision

Blue Moon is a variety of Kentucky wisteria (Wisteria macrostachya), which is a native vine and not as aggressive as Chinese or Japanese wisterias. You should try it as planned.