Hi!

As my name indicates, I'm more of a PC tech than anything, but I also do some gardening here and there and thought I was at least OK at it. There's a large pond at work with a surrounding fence and arch, so I thought it would be nice to have an Amethyst Falls Wisteria growing around it (I can handle trimming aggressive plants). I planted one by the pond late fall last year, and it died during the harsh Winter we had, so I planted another one mid Spring. It grew a LOT of flower bundles within a couple months (it was mature-ish from the store), but since then, the vine hasn't grown more than 3 or 4 inches. Also, the leaves are turning yellow and falling off.

I have it planted about 8 feet from the pond in full sun, and it was about 4 feet tall when I bought it. The ground is clay, but I have some potting soil mixed in. There's gravel over the top. I tried using a bit of rose feed early on since I heard that was supposed to be good for it. After flowering was done mid Summer, I trimmed some of the original growth off so the vine could focus more towards the arch and railings. And like I mentioned before, the total growth has been about 3 or 4 inches since I planted it (I was expecting at least a couple feet based on what I'd read). As for water, I've given it enough to say watered during drought periods, and after heavy rain, the pond can fill up to near ground level.

Is this one dying too? What am I doing wrong?

Thanks for any help!

Thanks to "Daisyl" in the Ask a Question area, I found I had it planted too close to the pond (it was actually about 20ft away - my memory on the distance was bad). When I dug it out, the hole immediately filled with a few inches of water! I moved it to another location farther away, so we'll see how it does! If it grows as much what I've read these can do, it should still be able to reach and grow around the arch. The other bushes in the same area seem to be doing fine, so I'll be hoping for the best.

When Winter comes around, should I throw on a pile of leaves to help shield it from hard frosts? The area tends to get a lot of wind.

It wouldn't hurt. I would shred them first if you can so they stay in place better.

Thanks! I'll give that a go then. One of the trees over here has very small leaves that all fall off at the same time, so I'll collect and use those when it happens.

It's been a few days now since it was moved, and aside from the leaves that were already yellow falling off, it's looking healthier!

Months later, and I'm happy to report that the Wisteria survived! It's still recovering, but there are now leaves coming out from the buds, and I'm sure it will only get better from here.

Hi!

The Wisteria survived another year and seems to be healthy! It has lots of fresh green leaves and a whole lot of flower buds that are getting ready to open up! I do have one last little problem though, and maybe you all have the answer (Google sure didn't).

In the last year, it's only grown a few inches instead of the 10+ feet that's supposedly expected. It does not have a support for the main vine yet since it needs to grow enough to reach the archway I've put together. I thought it would grow without a support at least until reaching over, but does Wisteria stop growing if it's not wrapped around something? It only needs to grow about 2 feet before it reaches the arch. Or maybe it didn't grow simply because the roots were recovering from the previous location that was too wet?

Thanks!

Give it some time. Also move the rocks out and away from them, at least a foot around. The rocks do nothing for the plant except bake it in the sun and keep the plant from growing. Get some wood mulch or straw to put down instead.

I totally agree with pepper23 and remove the rocks and put mulch around the base.
We have two that are on a hill where it's dry and they only get a little water. W. A. F. is one of our favorites!

Thanks! I'll see if I can get approval from the boss to put some mulch there! The rocks are what's been there for the past few years before I even started trying to grow this thing, so I was just trying not to alter the landscape too much. Of course, a full grown Wisteria is quite the change on its own.

I got approval and the boss even told me where we had some extra bricks and mulch! I scooped the rock out of the way to add some bricks around the perimeter, and then filled it about 2" deep with mulch. It's pretty small to start, but if this works (hoping it does!), we can expand it as needed.

Much better!! Just keep an eye on it and watch for heat stress. Should be ok though. The mulch will help the roots stay cooler this summer and warmer this winter.

PCTechguy, you have to promise to post photos when she blooms!! Great job!

It's looking great, PCtechguy! Nice work.

Here you go! It's not in full bloom yet, but it's looking good! It's also starting to show signs of more growth, and I think I'll actually need to give it a little extra support until it reaches the arch!

Thanks for the help!

PCTechguy, it this a vine or tree form? If a vine, yes give it something to climb on or it will take over the fence behind it!! Tree form, just let it grow. Thank you for sharing the photo........now share more as it grows.

Yup, it'll be grown as a vine! I'll have one side going to the arch and the other side going to the fence. It's a heavy metal fence and should have no trouble supporting it.

Since the fence is more vertical lines until the top you might try velcro ties or something soft yet strong to hold them in place on the fence until they reach the top. This will keep them from falling down the fence since they have nothing horizontal to land on. You won't need many, just go by what it seems it needs in certain places.

Thanks, I'm trying that now! I also tied a couple wood rods in place to help guide it to where it needs to go.

Interesting update here, we've been having some drought mixed with high heat that practically put the plant into a dormant state (it stopped growing for a few weeks), which I noticed when leaves were starting to turn yellow and fall off. So for the past week and a half or so, I've been dumping a couple gallons of water on it every morning. It's finally started growing again and getting new leaves, and I was surprised today to see new flower buds quickly growing around it!

It's me again, another year later! Growth has been slow, gaining only a couple inches in the last year, but it is alive and flowered again quite a bit, so at least it's not dying!

I noticed over the past few days that these nasty little guys have been appearing rapidly on new growth (and it really has only been a few days). Any idea what they are and what to use to get rid of them without damaging the plant? They look like mites of some sort, and they're about 1mm in size.