Plant Doctor Archive

Unhealthy Wisteria

MY established Wisteria is not looking too healthy. It seems to have stopped growing, and the foliage is of a slight yellow, not lush and green. The stringy ends have also dried up and died. Can I save my favourite climber? I'd hate to lose it.

CHECK your plant for borer. They may have got into some of the branches and could be causing them to die back. Cut away any borer-infected growth and give the whole plant a good feed with compost to boost its strength.

Your plant could also have dried out in summer and died back. Water and feed it and by next spring it will hopefully have returned to full health.

Reproduced with permission from the former Weekend Gardener magazine. The views expressed here are not necessarily those of the RNZIH.