Out of control wisteria!

[Pitapotamus]

I have a massive mature wisteria that I have allowed to go completely wild mainly because I don’t know what to do with it. It’s up in the guttering, covering window and up on the roof in places. Around the windows it protrudes about a metre from the house so there is a big overhang blocking the sunlight getting in. Most of the old branches are now really quite thick with lots of new growth as well.

Is there anything that can be done to heavily prune it back? Do I need a specialist to do it for me?

Thanks im advance for any advice!

Can we see a pic? Can you train it to anything? I'm so so jealous

I can’t post a pic because it would basically be a picture of my whole house which would be quite outing!

It’s already been trained to go round all the windows presumably by the previous owner of the house. Then I moved in and did nothing for 3 years and it’s gone everywhere!

I just don’t know how to cut it back!

I think once established, wisteria are quite resistant to pruning so I'm sure it could handle being hacked back a fair amount. I think Feb/August are the times to do it. We had a huge wisteria at my family home that was very sentimental (as planted by my late dad) - I remember my mum in tears one year when a gardener pruned it right back reducing its size by about half (ours used to come in the windows and flower in the playroom which was rather lovely). It came back the next in full force. 🌸

thanks, that’s a long wait till aug/Feb and I’d quite like some light inside before then so I think I’ll chance giving it a trim around the windows for now and then see whether we can do a proper job later in the year!

I’ve notices it also has a clematis intertwined with it, I think they are quite easy to kill so I’ll go carefully!

Wisteria need pruning twice, once in the summer when they have finished flowering to get rid of all the whippy stems and again in the winter when the buds are coming through so that all the energy goes towards making flower instead of leaf.

It involves cutting back to a certain number of leaves, and then buds. Bit of a performance but not hard. Your best bet is to look for guidance on YouTube and Gardeners' World.