Best pruning for wisteria

Our old Wisteria sinensis took a hammering after a hard winter but has regrown valiantly. We need to do more training and pruning to fill the spaces where mature stems rotted at the base

- Anne Swithinbank

Q We have moved into a new garden with a lovely wisteria against the house. I know I should prune it, but am scared about doing it wrong. Any tips? Christine Farley, Norfolk

A A well-trained wisteria has plenty of kerb appeal, working wonders to transform ordinary houses into something special. The Chinese wisteria (W. Chinensis) and its cultivars, with their shorter flower racemes, are more in scale with the lower walls of cottages and bungalows.

On taller buildings, the long racemes of Japanese wisteria (W. floribunda) add style and lend older houses the appeal of grand Victorian residences. Walls should face south or west, but wisterias can also climb trees, scale pergolas or make elegant standards.

These deciduous climbers’ fragrant pea-like blooms open in April and May. Your plant has already been trained, probably in an espalier-fashion, so there is upright growth with long arms growing horizontally at 18in (45cm) intervals on either side. Let loose, W. Sinensis can extend to 100ft (30m), but most are controlled by annual spur pruning.