Talkback: The strange case of the wilting wisteria - Page 2 - Talkback

24/08/2009 at 11:48

Yes Jon, we do need to find a common theme. I take back what I said about two different kinds of symptoms. My leaves have gone yellow and fallen off and now brown and crispy and falling off... and all over the garden like Iian's. The plant has really taken a downturn this weekend (but it hasn't rained for a while) and I think is dead. The plant is in a dry spot but my soil is clay so the roots might well have been waterlogged through this summer. Is anyone's dead wisteria in free draining sandy soil?

Gardeners' World Web User

31/08/2009 at 18:55

We live in outer London, on the Essex side and have had very little rain over the last month. Our Wisteria has flowered and looked well until the last few days when it began to wilt at the tips. Today, in the space of an afternoon the plant visibly drooped. The leaves are yellow/brown with dark brown patches. The soil is free draining.

Gardeners' World Web User

14/09/2009 at 18:02

I would guess Anna's problem with her Stella cherry is most likely to be fire-blight.

Gardeners' World Web User

17/09/2009 at 13:44

I reported a problem with mine in July this year, but have now noticed new growth shoots coming from the bottom of the plant, so hopefully this is good news.

Gardeners' World Web User

20/09/2009 at 14:01

I'm sorry to hear about everybody's problems with their Wisteria's, but I am also a little bit relieved as I thought it was just mine. Our Wisteria is huge ( probably holding up the front of the house actually)and I would guess it's really old too,(have only lived in the house for 18 months).It had got out of control but was beautifully green and lush.We had it professionally pruned and thinned and although it flowered it now looks totally pathetic and rather ugly, with all the same symptoms everybody has mentioned.What are other people going to do ? should I give it time and see what happens next year or is it a lost cause?

Gardeners' World Web User

20/09/2009 at 15:15

I noticed this same wilting in my garden some plants are fine others are wilting including the cherry tree an indian bean tree a new ginkgo boloba has very tiny leaves and some walnut saplings..also the walnuts from the tree are all blackened and wisened inside and along my flower border various leaves are wilting too...is it something to do with the water table getting low?

Gardeners' World Web User

21/09/2009 at 00:49

From Arul Durai, Burgess Hill Here are two more cases of sudden deaths of Wisteria -- My fully grown 15 yr old wisteria (Japanese Wisteria with pale pink flowers) in full bloom in May started to dry up -- first the buds then the leaves, and practically died by the end of June. The tree obviously is unaffected below the graft as green shoots are still growing vigorously from below the grafting point. I have decided to dig up the old plant and replace it with a Chinese Wisteria (blue flowers) this time. I will be grateful for any explanation on the old plant's death and advice regarding the replacement. Today I have heard from Sue Harper -- I have had exactly the same problem with my blue Japanese Wisteria which is about 20 years old and until this spring was a stunning flowering plant. My plant is now bereft of all leaves apart from the vigorous foliage at the base of the plant. I would like to know if the plant will come back again next spring or like Arul Durai I will have to face the fact that it is dead and I will have to replace it.

Gardeners' World Web User

27/09/2009 at 16:46

My 10 year old wisteria appears to have died this summer. I have just been clearing the ground around it and one of the lower branches has come away from the main stem. The wood inside the branch appears to be completely dead.

Gardeners' World Web User

08/10/2009 at 15:18

I have the lilac/blue variety, (10 years old) and it now seems as dead as a dodo. I trimmed it back and am going to leave it till the spring to see if anything happens. very sad as it had just begun to flower.... after years of tender loving care (and frustration)

Gardeners' World Web User

04/03/2010 at 23:51

Our wisteria is about 90 years old and grows all round our garden. Up until last year it was extremely healthy and full of flowers twice a year but the the leaves started to wilt and some of the main branches have died and snapped off. There seems to now be some pale brown patches along one of the main lower branches, with almost a worm like small mass in one part. We are devastated as the whole plant seems as though it is dying. Is there any way we can rescue it - it is part of the family now?!

Gardeners' World Web User

03/04/2010 at 16:40

My wisteria succumbed to this last summer - it has flowered now for the last 9 years but as I look at it now there is nothing, not a sign of new growth. I was hoping it would recover but obviously not. Now what? do I give it up for dead??

Gardeners' World Web User

12/04/2010 at 16:35

Like so many of your commentators my 10 yr old wisteria bloomed, wilted and died (?) last June. I have left it and now there is new growth from the base. However I fear that I will have to remove all of the old wood.

Gardeners' World Web User

25/04/2010 at 13:59

I belive that our 25 year old wisteria has the ssame issues. It seems to bloom evey other year. Last year it bloomed but not as it normally would have for the 2nd year blooming. Then we began to notice the dead branches. We trimed most of them out. then this spring we see that we have twice as many dead branches. They seem to have brown slashed on some of them. No signs of bugs or any fungas. I am thinking it is dying. What is the age for wisteria?

Gardeners' World Web User

26/04/2010 at 08:04

I am sorry that many of you are still losing Wisteria. As a follow up to this post may I refer you to this: http://blog.gardenersworld.com/2009/09/14/wilting-wisteria-an-update/ It contains the answer from the RHS. Not very encouraging, I'm afraid.

Gardeners' World Web User

13/05/2010 at 11:42

I have a Wisteria plant on my patio which has been beautiful for many years previously. I am not a gardener and have relied apon this lovely plant each spring to add colour to this area of our garden. This spring I have had the same problems as everyone else, although interestingly, the purple flowers are still in bloom but from the bottom up!!! The leaves are all a yellowy brown; I just sit by and watch helplessly and hope that it will survive!!!

Gardeners' World Web User

13/05/2010 at 17:38

My 5 year old wisteria was in full bud , green, not yellow anywhere, until today. We had a bad frost last night, and it is now completely wilted. It looks just like Clematis wilt. Like everyone else, do we leave it to recover, or cut it right back????

Gardeners' World Web User

21/05/2010 at 10:56

What can I do about my wisteria? Is there any cure or is it doomed

Gardeners' World Web User

21/05/2010 at 14:57

I have a 4 year old wisteria bloomed beautifully every year but flowers appeared open fully, I have some small leaves but they are very limp and the flower buds are falling off, they never properly bloomed. Help!

Gardeners' World Web User

23/05/2010 at 19:14

My wisteria sinensis is about 10 years old and covers a long brick wall. Up until the day before yesterday it was blooming well and the perfume was fabulous. It seems almost overnight the flowers have gone limp and shrivelling and falling off. The leaf seems to be growing though. What is this?

Gardeners' World Web User

10/06/2010 at 18:24

In June 2009 our wisteria suddenly wilted. The whole plant covering the entire front of our house appeared to die. It was about 10 years old and had been doing extremely well until then. Earlier this spring I checked for new growth and none found. I cut the wisteria to ground level and found rot internally. The good news is that new shoots are now sprouting by the dozen