[thomasrcleary]

Hi,

I'm totally new to gardening or anything that can be grown so forgive me if I sound a bit green.

I recently bought 2 "Wisteria sinensis Blue Rain" climbers and would appreciate some advise on how to get [train] these guys to climb [fix] my rear block garden wall.

Thanks.[/b]

[The Garden Shop]

These are very nice plants, so good choice and good start to gardening for you!

Training wisteria all comes down to what kind of supports you want to use. Which ever you go for, make sure its sturdy as wisteria could eventually pull it down.

The obvious option would be a garden trellis. Fix trellis the wall using screws and rawl plugs and then simply weave the side shoot of your climber around the lattice frame. In time the plant will find its own way.

An alternative to a trellis would be using steel garden wire and fixing it to the wall at 1 foot horizontal intervals.

Wisteria are pruned twice a year - in late summer and again in early spring. this encourages branching and more flower. Light trim required only!

Hope this helps

[tippben]

I'd definitely go for wires: they're sturdier, and will last longer. You can use "vine eyes" (triangular metal spikes with holes for the wire) that you can hammer into the wall to support the wires.

Wisteria pruning is easy. In July, spot the new leggy green growth tendrils. The old wood will be have greyish bark. Cut those big sappy tendrils in half. Next February, cut the remainder of the shoots you pruned back to two or three buds. Job Done!

They prefer poor soil to flower well, but a spring feed of high potash, like tomato feed, will help encourage flowering. I'd recommend Maxicrop seaweed tomato feed, which can be sprayed on the leaves as a foliar feed as well. Don't feed otherwise, or you'll just get loads of lush rampant growth, and no flowers.