Wisteria is a large growing, woody vine. It may smoother a tree or, I suppose grow into a "standard" if trained (only guessing as I have never seen them as "trees"). Asian Wisterias are very aggressive growers and can overtake your yard. I had planted one and now each year try to kill it back. However, I am a fan of the much manageable "American Wisteria" (Wisteria frutescens), but I must admit they are not as stunning in bloom as the Asian species.

They are vines as Subtropix said. I would post this question on the Perennials Forum as to how to train them into this form because there is a poster on that forum, woodyoak, who has done this with a couple of wisterias. I do know that to maintain this form takes quite a bit of pruning, and depending on variety, soil, and climate, they like to send out suckers (underground shoots) that may pop up quite a ways from the parent plant and will need to be removed. If not regularly pruned, they also set seed which will plant itself, so these plants (particularly the Japanese and Chinese species) take quite a bit of maintenance.

When you repost on the Perennials Forum, you will want to give the growing zone you are in and the nearest large city, since not all wisteria are able to grow in all climates, and posters here are from all over the world. If you want it to post automatically next to your name every time you post, here's how:

Go to Your Houzz in the upper right of every page, click Edit Profile, and on the left side click advanced settings. Well down the advanced settings page is a blank labeled Climate Zone for Garden Forums along with a link to find your zone.

If you add info on your state or the nearest large city you will get even better information since zone only relates to average coldest winter temperatures.

Then return to the top of the page and click Done Editing.

ditto; ''btw.. you turn a vine into a tree.. thru constant pruning to achieve
your desire ... not a big deal.. but a long term project for sure ...''

You can buy them already trained as standards but you will have to continue the pruning and training yourself to maintain the effect. It being genetically a large climber every growing season the specimen will throw out long vigorous stems that will have to be pruned back in order to keep the tree shape.

Tim Parris, HERE is a lengthy, recent post on the same topic. Check it out.

come on... anyone else think the pic is manipulated ...

this is one of those situations ... where you want it.. and you take care of it ... and then some years down the line.. you move.. and leave a nightmare for the next owner ...[been there done that.. and that plant is why i moved... lol]

and then they end up writing a new post saying ... how do i save this mess that is taking over my whole backyard ... lol.. i dont want to kill this tree ...

all the power to ya.. live your garden dream ....

ken

ps: if albert keeps agreeing with me.. i will have to make him a friend ... lol ..

Thanks for the help everyone. To be honest, a Wisteria sounds like quite a challenge--especially for someone with my level of experience (none). I'm leaning more towards a Cloud 9 dogwood at this point or maybe a Yoshino Cherry.

Since in your other post on Landscape Design you mentioned that you are in Missouri, check out the Missouri Botanical Garden's plant finder to get suggestions that will work for your zone and size requirements. You can input a variety of factors (tree, size, flowers, evergreen, name, etc.) that matter to you and leave the other options blank, and you will get a list of options. You should know and input your growing zone so you plant something that will be fully hardy for you.

If you go for a dogwood off the right corner of the house in Yardvaark's sketch above, it may need to be farther from the house as they can get good-sized.

Yes Ken, the picture is doctored/photoshopped/manipulated/or something.

Dogwood would be a good idea. Ornamental fruit (such as yoshino cherry) are extremely short lived due to disease issues.

Logan's disease issues don't cause issues everywhere, and not all fruit trees are effected. Tim, do research for your area and if there are disease problems, look for disease resistant varieties. I have never had disease issues.

Yoshino cherry are very badly affected. After about 15 years, they are just an eyesore. My neighbor's only lasted 5 years.

LOL!! Yoshino cherries are perhaps the most disease resistant of any of the flowering cherries. Many of these trees planted along the Tidal Basin in Washington DC are more than 50 years old.

Logan's example is proof that with the right combination of poor conditions, poor planting, and poor aftercare many trees don't stick around very long.

Gardengal's example is good proof that, with a team of arborist working around the clock, almost any tree can survive to a decent age.

"with a team of arborist working around the clock, almost any tree can survive to a decent age."

If I could pay a "team of arborists" to spray my trees around the clock, I would have a yard full of ornamental fruit. Also, I am sure that my neighbor's cherry was properly planted and cared for, although I'm not sure what pest or disease is succumbed to.

Well, 5 years is very atypical.

The Park Service actually has an illustrated account of the Tidal Basin plantings on the web.

History of the Cherry Trees

https://www.nps.gov/subjects/cherryblossom/history-of-the-cherry-trees.htm

Yoshino cherries may be the most disease resistant of the commonly available ornamental cherries....but that isn't saying much. Ornamental cherries are notorious for being vulnerable to disease. No doubt they do well in some places...they had to have evolved somewhere...but they are one of those trees that is so pretty people plant it in places it struggles (most places, really) and coddle it. Five years is atypical...usually they last like ten.

gardengal lives in a plant Shangri La...few truly cold days without real e treme heat either. She can doubtless grow all sorts of things in her yard.

As far as dogwood, Logan exaggerates a bit. The whole roseacea genus is a bit vulnerable to disease, dogwood less so then most,.

Dogwood isn't in the Rosaceae.

The Tidal Basin is in Washington D.C., NOT Washington State!! That is much closer to Logan's location than I am and likely a much more similar climate. And Shangri La or not, ornamental cherries suffer from all the same woes here as they do elsewhere - probably even more, since this is like the fungal capital of the universe!! In fact, issues with these trees is so widespread here that WSU published an entire booklet on ornamental cherry problems and diseases.

Having said all that, Yoshinos are still considered the best performers in this regard, hence their long term plantings in D.C. Our own University of Washington campus is also planted with Yoshino cherries. They get replaced as needed but most are well beyond 30, even 40 years old: "The iconic cherry trees in the Quad are over 80 years old and in good health for their age. The trees were moved from a location near the Montlake Bridge and planted in the Quad in the 1960s when they were already at least 20 years old." (I would amend that to read "many are over 80 years old" - but not all!) They are expected to be in full bloom next weekend.

garden web photos · More Info

And Rosaceae is a Family and not a genus, of course. As I remember it E. B. 0668 (1044) Why Cherry Trees Die was about orchard cherries.

Publication Update Notification

http://cahnrs.wsu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/October-2013-Publication-Information-Pack.pdf

Nope, this was entirely on ornamentals.......but it's been a number of years since I've referred to it and it may no longer be in publication. But early on in my career as a horticulturist, it impressed me that these trees have so many issues it was necessary to publish a whole booklet to address them.

They probably have them sprayed by arborists periodically. Not to mention they most likely keep a very close eye on them. Also, via a google search, DC is zone 7a, so somewhat-similar growing conditions, but not identical. IMO cherries and other ornamental fruit do a lot better in cooler climates (such as zones 6 and 5).

Of course, Logan - obviously these trees do not fair well in a zone 7 (DC) or a zone 8 WA state) climate................which is why one is able to see these long term and immensely attractive and popular mass plantings in these wildly unsuitable locations!! LOL! Or why these are native to Japan, most of which is a zone 7 or higher...........they just need a cooler climate. NOT!!

Logan, would you please just stop? Yoshino and Kanzan cherries thrive in the DC area without a spray regimen. Just stop.

>this was entirely on ornamentals.......but it's been a number of years since I've referred to it and it may no longer be in publication<

All I remember seeing - in person or in their publications listings - is Why Cherry Trees Die, which I am pretty sure was about orchard cherries only. But I haven't looked at it in years. And the page from 2013 I linked to above does list it as being out of print.

Not quite sure how we went from wisteria to cherries???? Flowering cherry trees are immensely popular here in the mid-atlantic and for good reason, they do well here. They are an absolutely dominant part of any retailer's spring sales. Here is a pic of Kwanzan Cherries which I have posted here before, the trees are near me, this house was actually empty for a couple of years. The trees are doing great, even if planted too close together.

A common source of several problems - including reduced longevity - with grafted Japanese Cherry Trees is large growing, surface rooting, suckering Sweet Cherry (Prunus avium) having been used as the stock. In the preceding photo the mound like crown growths the 'Kanzan' are sitting on indicates these are grafted on Sweet Cherry. This forming large, ugly bases that do not match the diameter of the Japanese Cherry Tree scions is typical.

I'm leaning more towards ........a Yoshino Cherry. I think that's a good idea especially if you plan to stay at that location for many years. Here are some Yoshinos, pix taken today at the Nat'l Arboretum in Wash DC.

With coppery buds etc. I'm not sure that first one is a Yoshino Cherry.

"I think that's a good idea especially if you plan to stay at that location for many years"

The dogwood would be much longer lived. I like yoshino cherries, but I wouldn't expect them to be long-lived, and I wouldn't plant one in a highly-visible spot, because they only look nice when in blossom. This year some local ones (which haven't shown any sign of disease yet) lost their leaves in july.

Here you go Tim Parris, pix of Yoshino Cherries taken today in MD where they are a common sight. A really beautiful sight, make note of the space they require.

Oooh, lovely!

Thanks, Sam. The 'flowers' in my trees today are of a colder variety, so it's nice to know that spring is on its way.

NHB, spring is surely on its way, winter's grip can't last forever, the spring peepers are sounding off here nightly.

For us Yoshino Cherry is ubiquitous. These pix taken this morning in Baltimore.