Wisteria opinions

[LemonBonsai]

This is a Chinese Wisteria I bought from a local nursery about a week ago and I have been looking at it and pondering what I want to do with it and I think I know what I want to do but I want opinions first of where I should take it. I have attached a picture of the tree and which branch I want to cut off. Also if I were to make this cut, would it be better to cut it in the early spring or is wisteria a hardy enough plant to take this cut in the middle of summer?

This is the tree as it sits right now


And this is how it would look if I take off that left branch.

This picture is from the side, showing a bit of movement. Also want to thin out the canopy a bit after all the leaves fall off of it.

Another options I could do is I could keep both branches and make the one on the left a cascading branch and make the whole thing a semi-cascade bonsai, but was leaning toward just removing that left branch. Let me know what you guys think!

 

[Shibui]

Looks like it is a long way from being anything resembling bonsai so it hardly matters what you cut at this stage. I would be leaving both on for thickening for a while and wiring some of the straightness out of both trunks because you never know which part will look better after it grows a bit.

 

[LemonBonsai]

Looks like it is a long way from being anything resembling bonsai so it hardly matters what you cut at this stage. I would be leaving both on for thickening for a while and wiring some of the straightness out of both trunks because you never know which part will look better after it grows a bit.

Thanks for the advice. I have some wire coming that I ordered so when I get that I will wire it. And I also thought about keeping that branch as a sacrificial branch. I may trim it down rather then removing it completely and do that.

 

[Mikecheck123]

Thanks for the advice. I have some wire coming that I ordered so when I get that I will wire it. And I also thought about keeping that branch as a sacrificial branch. I may trim it down rather then removing it completely and do that.

You're saying a lot of intelligent bonsai things but for a very misbehaved species. A wisteria isn't going to act like a chinese elm or a japanese maple, so don't treat it like one.

All you can really do with material like this is put it in the ground and let it climb something huge and come back in 5-10 years to dig it up. Because it's a vine, it thickens extremely slowly, even though the shoots can grow a foot per day.

People make bonsai out of wisteria because of the flowers. NOT because it's well behaved.

 

[LemonBonsai]

You're saying a lot of intelligent bonsai things but for a very misbehaved species. A wisteria isn't going to act like a chinese elm or a japanese maple, so don't treat it like one.

All you can really do with material like this is put it in the ground and let it climb something huge and come back in 5-10 years to dig it up. Because it's a vine, it thickens extremely slowly, even though the shoots can grow a foot per day.

People make bonsai out of wisteria because of the flowers. NOT because it's well behaved.

I have heard that. I have also heard that people propogate the cuttings that they take off of the wisteria and plant them at the base of the main plant so that it can basically climb itself and thicken faster. Is this something you would recomend?

 

[Paulpash]

I have heard that. I have also heard that people propogate the cuttings that they take off of the wisteria and plant them at the base of the main plant so that it can basically climb itself and thicken faster. Is this something you would recomend?

I wouldn't do this. You will have little control over the uniformity of thickening in a fusion project, resulting in possible inverse taper and / or strange bulges, bearing in mind that they grow in a spiral.

They are a fleeting joy, only showing their true mettle for a few weeks every year. Have a "display" spot where you can enjoy the fragrant racemes and another "development spot" (in full sun) where those tendrils can extend without wrapping round its bonsai neighbours.

Your material at present is too thin to make into a bonsai. Get it in full sun and chuck as much water at it as you can. Mulch the base. They are pretty good at recovering from being dug up - their knobbly lignified roots branch off into a fibrous root mass - lift it onto a tarp & wrap if you need to move the rootball. You can just wash off the ground soil before planting into a moisture retentive bonsai substrate.

 

[LemonBonsai]

I wouldn't do this. You will have little control over the uniformity of thickening in a fusion project, resulting in possible inverse taper and / or strange bulges, bearing in mind that they grow in a spiral.

They are a fleeting joy, only showing their true mettle for a few weeks every year. Have a "display" spot where you can enjoy the fragrant racemes and another "development spot" (in full sun) where those tendrils can extend without wrapping round its bonsai neighbours.

Your material at present is too thin to make into a bonsai. Get it in full sun and chuck as much water at it as you can. Mulch the base. They are pretty good at recovering from being dug up - their knobbly lignified roots branch off into a fibrous root mass - lift it onto a tarp & wrap if you need to move the rootball. You can just wash off the ground soil before planting into a moisture retentive bonsai substrate.

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You have beautiful bark on that tree. How old is it? Also thank you for the tips

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

I have a young wisteria. I have it in a large, 5 gallon nursery pot, the roots are running out the pot and into the ground. The vine itself has rambled up a neighboring shrub and is climbing over the roof of the old chicken coop. Every other year I cut the roots leading into the ground, and I cut the trunk to less than a foot tall. Then I pull the dead vines off the coop, and otherwise tidy up the vicinity of the wisteria.

Your wisteria is young, you should wire movement into the first foot of the length of that trunk. What the branches up top do is not important, because they will be removed when you finally have a trunk with enough diameter to make a bonsai, you will have removed all the branches several different times. Let it grow out wild, for 2 or 3 years, then cut back. Then let grow wild for another 2 or 3 years. Repeat until you have a gnarly trunk with bark as attractive as the wisteria belonging to @Paulpash

Key is to get the trunk below those 2 existing branches to have bends, to either bend back and forth, or to otherwise twist and have movement. Right now it is straight and boring. You need movement down low before it gets much larger. Get wire on it. Don't bother wiring those branches, they will be gone in a few years. Just wire the lowest segment of that trunk.

 

[Paulpash]

You have beautiful bark on that tree. How old is it? Also thank you for the tips

About 30 years. The one shown is Chinese. I have another, this time Japanese, growing in a big pot (as usual no space in my grow beds!). I'm not sure if I want to keep the second one as they tend to be space hogs with their waving tendrils.

Just to add to @Leo in N E Illinois post about wiring movement, just be careful the wire does not cut in. I guy wire the next trunk section up using the existing trunk then chop back to it mid season. I only do this because I've ruined trunk sections before using wire so I tend to avoid it. If you are busy or forgetful guy wire using some plastic tubing on the next trunk section.

 

[LemonBonsai]

FINALLY got my wire in the mail. Covid delays were a killer but wired up the lower part of the trunk giving a slight bend.