I bought this Japanese Wisteria in the Spring of 2001; originally it was the stock trunk for a much taller, grafted Wisteria standard that had failed and died back.

Here is the tree after getting it home.

Quite soon after purchase, I realised the reason for the tree's ill-health was due to the soil it was growing in. A careful midsummer repotting was carried out revealing a poor root system trying to survive in airless clay and ground soil.

 

Winter 2001.

Having repotted the tree into fresh, fast draining soil the Wisteria responded very strongly. Carrying out a risky midsummer repotting had proved successful with this tree.

Having re-established the trees vigour, after leaf fall the trunk was chopped to start the process of trunk-building.

 

 

Winter 2003

After two years the tree has developed nicely. Disaster struck during the Summer of 2003 when strong winds blew the tree over and smashed its pot. Fortunately, no damage came to the tree.

Spring 2005

After four years of the development, the tree flowers.

Heavy pruning in Autumn straight after leaf fall, pinching out any strong shoots during the growing season and leaving the Wisteria rootbound, all combine to promote flowering over vegetative growth.

Wisteria floribounda /Japanese Wisteria

Trunk diameter 3.5", height 21".