Alan Titchmarsh: A foolproof guide to growing wisteria
If you've been enviously eyeing the extraordinary wisteria on display across Britain and wondering how you can grow your own, help is at hand. Alan Titchmarsh shares his advice for growing this most glorious of horticultural spectacles.


How I love wisteria! It graced the front wall of our modest three-up, three-down terrace house when we got married and I trained it proudly so that, in the six years we lived there, its territory was extended year on year.
It was the common Chinese wisteria (W. sinensis), generally the only kind that existed in our gardens for many years. Today, there are countless cultivars, mainly of Japanese origin, with strange names and, in some cases, strange colours and flower formations.
Wisteria at Iford Manor in Wiltshire
If you’re planting a new one, first check that you like the colour and flower form and buy a grafted plant, as it will bloom more reliably and at a much younger age. The graft union will be clearly visible a few inches above soil level. Plants that aren’t grafted and have been propagated by layering or cuttings can be irritatingly flower shy; there are ways to encourage blooming in older reluctant plants.
Wisteria needs a sunny wall. Don’t waste your time giving it a wall facing north or east. South and west are the more favoured aspects, where the wood will ripen most effectively. Then there’s the twice-yearly pruning. In July, tie in all questing growths that are needed to extend the plant’s coverage, but shorten all others to about 1ft. In January, cut back all sideshoots to finger length. Do this every year and your plant should not disappoint.
Your wall will need some kind of support framework, as wisteria is a twiner, with no sticky pads such as those on Virginia creeper or aerial roots on ivy. Stout horizontal wires fastened to sturdy vine eyes screwed into the wall at intervals of 18in give the most unobtrusive support.
A well-affixed trellis can be used, but the snaking stems can get behind it and, as they fatten over the years, they can prise it from the wall – regular untangling during winter pruning will reduce this risk.
Feeding your wisteria with a generous helping of rose fertiliser (rich in flower-promoting potassium and magnesium) every March will help to promote regular flowering and healthy growth. If your wisteria has been pruned and fed and grown on a sunny wall and still refuses to flower after three or four years, give it up as a bad job, haul it out and plant a grafted variety that will make up for lost time.
Exquisite houses, the beauty of Nature, and how to get the most from your life, straight to your inbox.
What medieval abbey is complete without a few twisting arms of wisteria?
Of the many varieties available, I particularly favour the old favourite Macrobotrys, which has flower trails that can be about 2ft long. The white varieties are wonderfully classy and, in the right situation, can be as spectacular as those of lilac purple.
I would never shun the plain W. sinensis, the flower trails of which give off the most delectable scent in spring sunshine, especially if trained around a bedroom window that can be opened to let in the heady fragrance.
Growing wisteria in pots and containers is seldom successful, as the plants are so greedy when it comes to food and water. If you lack a suitable house wall, you can grow wisteria as a free-standing ‘standard’ on a 5ft bare stem. It will need some support, but I remember massive free-standing specimens at Kew Gardens when I was a student there and, even then, they were a good century in age. They scrambled like boa constrictors over a rusted iron framework they’d all but demolished.
With everything in place, all you need do is cross your fingers for sunny weather and you can savour the delights of late spring and early summer in the company of one of the plant world’s most spectacular members.
Alan Titchmarsh is a gardener, writer, novelist and broadcaster.
-
'True waterfront homes are finite... miss one and it could be years before you see another like it again': Why the best waterfront property always hits the spot
There’s no denying the appeal of waterfront property, which now sells for some 51% more than its inland equivalent, finds Knight Frank. Annabel Dixon explores the shore.
-
Beyond Royal Portrush: Castles, country houses and ancient towers in the other dimension of golf in Ireland
Rory McIlroy's history-making exploits and The Open arriving at Royal Portrush have made 2025 a banner year for Irish golf — but there's far more to golf on the island of Ireland than those headline-grabbers, as Toby Keel finds out.
-
Don't judge a plant by its smell: Why 'the little stinkers of the natural world' are just doing their job
Reminiscent of love and with an unmistakable odour of death, the little stinkers of the natural world might incite repulsion, but they are only doing their job, pleads Ian Morton
-
The garden created by a forgotten genius of the 1920s, rescued from 'a sorry state of neglect to a level of quality it has not known for over 50 years'
George Dillistone’s original Arts-and-Crafts design at Knowle House, East Sussex, has been lovingly restored and updated with contemporary planting. George Plumptre tells more; photography by Clive Nichols.
-
‘This isn't just silver — it's a story of a man who fell in love with a woman who society deemed unworthy': The large silver sculpture of rutting stags that scandalised Victorian society
George Harry Grey, the 7th Earl of Stamford, was shunned when he married a circus performer. This sculpture was his way of showing the world that he was a fighter — and it's now been acquired by the National Trust.
-
Alan Titchmarsh: My garden is as pretty as I've ever known it, thanks to an idea I've rediscovered after 50 years
Thinking about an article he wrote almost half a century ago prompted Alan Titchmarsh to get sowing — and he's now reaping summer loveliness.
-
The Hollywood garden designers who turned their hand to a magical corner of Somerset
Caisson House's fifteen abandoned locks were part of the draw for Amanda and Phil Honey, who have created this astonishing garden in the grounds of the former headquarters of the Somersetshire Coal Canal Company just outside Bath. Caroline Donald discovers more; photography by Jason Ingram.
-
The 'Rose Labyrinth' of Coughton Court, where 200 varieties come together in this world-renowned garden in Warwickshire
Val Bourne finds the award-winning roses flourishing at Coughton Court in Warwickshire, where the historic garden is now in the hands of the latest in many generations of the same family. Photography by Clive Nichols.
-
'None of this would be here had the tithe barn not burned down that night’: How the terrifying destruction of a medieval landmark sparked the creation of the magnificent gardens of Bledlow Manor
After inheriting the Bledlow Manor in 2018, Lord Carrington has been devoted to the thoughtful renewal and replanting of this historic Buckinghamshire garden. Tiffany Daneff reports, with photography by Clive Nichols.
-
'The whole house shook. Everything was white. For four months, it felt as if we were on Mars': The story behind one of Hampshire's most breathtaking gardens
When Kim Wilkie sculpted a tiered grass amphitheatre behind this 17th-century house, the garden finally settled into place, as Non Morris discovers.