How To Get Rid Of Wisteria Roots From Your Yard

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Last Updated on March 27, 2022 by Fabiola L.

The biggest headache for most farmers and landscapers has been how to get rid of wisteria vines because they cannot be contained.

Though Beautiful and sweet-smelling, wisteria blooms are fast-growing. They quickly take over anything on the way. If left alone to grow, they exercise the real meaning of thriving! They take over any plantation including trees and buildings.

For this reason, wisteria has to be kept under control. This is through regular pruning or completely destroy it if it gets out of hand.

So What is Wisteria?

Wisteria is a vine plant that produces blue and purple flowers that are spectacular. Being a vine, it hangs in an archway manner blossoming in spring and early summer. After flowering, a brown bean pod stays on the plant until winter. Blooms later appear on new growth. Wisteria flowers are beautiful to behold with a pungent fragrant, the main reason many people grow it.

But, this vine is aggressive and a very fast grower. This vine can reach up to 30+ feet long and quite heavy. Wisteria vines can grow into anything they come across. You are advised not to plant them too close to your home.

Wisteria plants contain wisterin and lectin substances that are toxic to humans, pets, and livestock. These toxins cause diarrhea and nausea that can lead to death when taken in large amounts.

How to Get Rid of Wisteria

Most people who plant this vine without knowing its danger, find themselves stuck not knowing how to get rid of wisteria for good.

Here we lay down all the tools and ingredients required to carry out the extinction of wisteria.

Tools

• Gardening gloves
• Pruners or loppers
• Handsaw and pocket knife
• Shovel
• Pump sprayer or spray bottle
• Soft paintbrush

Ingredients

• Glyphosate, Triclopyr or Garlon herbicides – choose any of these three

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How to kill Wisteria- Steps to Follow

Step 1: Prepare the herbicide mixture using any of the 3 herbicides. Using a small disposable bowl, prepare 15 to 20% herbicide mixture. You can find premixed solutions ready to use in the market if you don’t prefer to mix it yourself but they cost more. You may also add some vegetable oil or diesel fuel to the solution to allow the mixture to penetrate into the wisteria more effectively.

Step 2: Using a handsaw gives wisteria stumps a nice horizontal cut. Leave a few inches protruding from the ground. If you had cut the wisteria to a stump before, cut the stump again to provide a fresh cut for treating with herbicide. The herbicide works best on a fresh cut no more than 4 hours after cutting. The deeper the cut, the better the herbicide will penetrate.

Step 3: peel the back around the stump nicely. Peel the bark to about 1 inch down the stump to provide an open surface for herbicide penetration. Use a small pocket knife it works better and faster.

Triclopyr 4 EC Selective Hernicide

Step 4: Using the paintbrush, paint the upper part of the stump with your well-mixed herbicide. Apply a lot of herbicide but be careful not to have it dripping on other plants. Leave it for an entire day to allow the herbicide to seep through the very interior of the stump and its roots.

Step 5: After 24 hours, repeat the application process again and give it between 1 to 4 weeks. This will depend on the size of the wisteria.

Step 6: After ample time for the wisteria to completely die, cut the stump off. Make sure the roots have died too and pull them out. This ensures that it doesn’t grow again.

Conclusion

Wisteria though a nice ornamental plant will at times become a hassle to maintain. Rescue your yard by destroying it as soon as you realize it’s getting out of hand!

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