01/06/2026
If you're a fan of our beautiful wisteria and have visited recently, you may have noticed that the pergola under the Chinese wisteria has started to look past its best…
Our wisteria pergolas are now around 30 years old, and thanks to close monitoring by our hard-working parks team, they are at a stage where we are ready to replace them. The weight of the wisteria over time means it will no longer be up for the job of supporting this strong and well-loved feature of our Pleasure Gardens.
To protect both our visitors to the gardens and the future of the wisteria, work will begin this month to carefully remove the existing pergola and replace it with a new structure that still compliments the gardens like the current structure does.
First, the Chinese wisteria will be pruned back by our Head Gardener now that flowering has finished. This may look a bit drastic at first, but the plant is very well established and will regenerate quickly, with new growth trained over a brand‑new oak pergola.
The pergola supporting the Japanese wisteria will then be replaced next year (summer 2027 after flowering has finished in spring), ensuring both structures are safe, long‑lasting and able to properly support the plants into the future and stay a favourite feature in our gardens.
We’ll share updates as the work continues, and when you visit, you'll be able to watch as the wisteria is trained in a new, beautiful way up and around the new pergolas!
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