Wisteria - what's the story?

[TheLeadbetterLife]

I'd really like to grow a wisteria vine (I'm in Southern Portugal, so zone 10b), but I keep reading all over the place online that they'll destroy house foundations, drains etc. and therefore must be planted with an exclusion zone of about a kilometre.

Is this true? If so, how come they're all over houses in the UK? I want to plant one because there was one outside my window at university and the scent was wonderful. It was a huge vine and it hadn't destroyed my college.

What's the story? Is it just Americans being hysterical?

Is it just Americans being hysterical?

Yes. They grow different species of wisteria anyway, and are not the ones grown in the UK, which are either Wisteria chinensis or sinensis.

Is that the same as in Australia? My parents (in Oz) are completely hysterical about wisteria. When I said I wanted one to grow around the entrance of our Victorian house they had conniptions.

But our very garden-proud and experienced neighbours have it, and it looks absolutely wonderful.

Oh I forgot - the vast majority of homes in the USA are not built of brick or stone, they are wooden so maybe more easily damaged by climbers.

My Australian cousins are anti all climbers, partly because it encourages all manner of wildlife to scale their house and mess with the roof, wiring, etc.

Wisteria is everywhere here in the UK. I've worked as a gardener and never known it be a problem. If you are concerned about having it on the house OP you could put it over an arch, along a fence or even grow it as a stand alone plant.

The uk one is quite annoying though. It is very vigorous, needs constant careful pruning which if not done right means you get few if any flowers. It only flowers for a couple of weeks. And yes, it can cause subsidence, but not always.

my neighbour has one on our shared fence, it’s a total PITA.

They are thirsty too, could be a factor in Portugal.

Mine always die, I've tried to grow them a few times but no luck, they seem more tricky than rampant.

When the front wall came off our house (UK), our insurance company said it was the wisteria's fault and made us cut it down. They also did drain surveys etc and then needed to underpin the house. TBH I don't think it was the wisteria. Check your insurance.

Thanks all! I suspect the wooden houses in the US may be a factor in the online chatter, but the thirstiness of wisteria could be an issue here. We get hairline cracks in our house in the summer as the ground dries out - probably best not to make that worse.

There's a house near me that has a fantastic wisteria on their perimeter wall, it always flowers in April and looks glorious. I need to think where I can put one so it won't get into the drains (already have to fight off an oleander).

Maybe go for a bougainvillea instead? Or a grapevine.

I have a wisteria in a large pot. My DH is very anxious about roots and foundations so that’s the compromise. It has moved house with us, been transplanted to a larger pot and flowers every year. Miraculous.

I planted one on a fence some distance from a previous house and it took 14 years to flower. I do acknowledge, they can be tricky.

Already got both of these!

I think there's a spot I could put a wisteria actually - on the east-facing side of the house the ground is raised above the floor level (built slightly into the side of a hill), and there are no drains, or roof tiles there for it to get into. I can't see it being able to do much damage there, as the house floors are solid concrete. I could take up some of the terrace and plant it to go over the front door. It also wouldn't bear the brunt of the summer sun on that side.