Captivating wisteria gardens: how to create your own floral paradise

A wisteria garden lets you enjoy bright flowers and sweet scent in your own yard. Plan the spot well and give the plants steady care plus the area turns into a private corner full of color and perfume. The steps below show how to lay out and look after such a garden.

Pick a place that suits your weather. Buy wisteria types known to live through local winters but also summers. Check how many hours of sun the spot receives - most wisteria needs at least six hours of direct light each day. Dig the soil to a spade's depth and mix in two buckets of compost or aged manure so water drains yet stays moist. Set the planting hole within reach of a hose or water barrel. If yard space is tight, train the vine up a wall trellis or plant it in a half barrel on the patio.

Sketch the layout on paper first. Mark paths wide enough for a wheelbarrow, a bench that catches the afternoon light and the exact spot for each post or support that will hold the heavy vine. Choose a style you like - formal rows for a tidy look or gentle curves for a cottage feel. Place shorter scented plants under the wisteria so both you as well as the pollinators move easily from one bloom to the next. Add a weather proof lamp or string of lights so the flowers remain visible after dusk.

For extra color, plant a few easy partners. Roses give weeks of blooms and a classic perfume. River lilies bear large white flowers on tall stems. Pink-red peppers brighten the border with glossy pods. Mountain chrysanthemums flower late and ask for little work. Arabian jasmine opens small star shaped blooms that release scent at night.

Keep the garden good looking every month. Water at the roots when the top inch of soil dries. Cut off dead wood in late winter or shorten long shoots in midsummer so the vine builds flower buds instead of leafy runners. Spread a shovel of compost over the root zone each spring. Watch leaves for holes or spots - pick off pests by hand or spray with soap solution if the damage spreads. Feed with a balanced fertilizer once a year, right after the first big flush of bloom.

Turn part of the garden into a quiet corner. Set a wooden bench with a cushion, hang a lantern that throws soft light and let a small fountain bubble nearby. Plant a row of lavender along the path so the scent drifts each time you brush past. Leave the phone inside the house for half an hour and listen to bees also water instead. The wisteria garden then becomes a private place to rest and breathe.