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Wisteria advice

Christopher Kevin

8 years ago

Hi there, I'm thinking about planting a wisteria along the back of my property, away from the house and about 20 feet from the garage. We have a fairly unattractive slope, probabily about 9 feet tall, that backs out onto woodland. The slope gets a mix of sun and shade.
What I'm wondering is will wisteria grow on a slope with no support ie no tressel etc, and would you expect it to flower? And if so, would I plant this at the top of the slope in the middle, or at the bottom and let it work its way up?
Thanks!

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Comments (5)

woodyoak zone 5 southern Ont., Canada
8 years ago
I would not plant a wisteria there because:

- it looks like there is too much shade for a wisteria to bloom well;

- there are too many trees and shrubs that the wisteria can latch onto and overwhelm;

- the rough terrain would make it difficult to access the wisteria for pruning and control.

It is likely that within a few years you'd have a tangled, out of control mess of vines that do not bloom well, are endangering the trees and shrubs, and are spreading widely from both root suckers and seeds produced by any bits that do manage to bloom. I'd definitely look for a different solution for that area!
Christopher Kevin
Original Author
8 years ago
Thanks for the advice, I hadn't thought about climbing the bank to trim it... any suggestions about how to cover it? I live in the Okanagan, zone 5, in British Columbia.

NB I have purchased some ground cover (creeping thyme etc), but I'm guessing that my take a while to grow.

Thanks!
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woodyoak zone 5 southern Ont., Canada
8 years ago
It's difficult to make any useful suggestion based on the one picture and not knowing anything more about the site. Even groundcover will have trouble growing on a near-vertical bank like that. I suspect you'll need some sort of grading to reshape it, so the smartest thing to do is likely to find a good local landscape designer who can view the site in person and come up with a plan. You could also try posting pictures and the query on the Landscape Design forum on this site. Some of the pro's there may be able to offer some guidance... Before deciding on plants, first you need to modify the terrain, and that's where a good designer can offer the most help.
floral_uk z.8/9 SW UK
8 years ago
The slope looks as if it is the result of water causing the bank to collapse. Even if it isn't the result of that it looks very much as if it will be prey to erosion from rain. The 'terminal moraine' of pebbles on the path looks like the result of water. I'd spend my time and energy stabilising the slope before worrying about planting it.
Ned Ibrahim
3 years ago
It appears that you live along a seasonal watercourse. I wouldn't attempt to grade or reshape the slope, as that could alter natural flow patern and could divert stormwater. Look for riverbank ground cover plants suitable for your region. Not wisteria.

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