The secrets of the wisteria pergolas in the Private Gardens at Petworth House

The wisteria at Petworth's private garden is simply astonishing. Non Morris takes a look at how it's done.

The Private Gardens at Petworth House, West Sussex. ©Val Corbett / Country Life
The Private Gardens at Petworth House, West Sussex. ©Val Corbett / Country Life

The beautiful pergolas in the Cloister Garden are trained with Wisteria floribunda Alba, a white Japanese wisteria selected for the tantalising length of its racemes — up to 24in — and the way the flowers open gradually along the stem, which prolongs its flowering period. The wisteria is pruned once only, in September.

The Private Gardens at Petworth House, West Sussex. ©Val Corbett / Country Life
(Image credit: Val Corbett / Country Life)

Elegant square arches are clothed with Trachelospermum asiaticum. ‘It’s a good green, recovers quickly from clipping and flowers much better than Trachelospermum jasminoides,’ says Lady Caroline Egremont.

‘In the beginning, I wound it round the metal posts, weaving shoots in as we went. Now, it is only sheared after flowering.’

The Private Gardens at Petworth House, West Sussex. ©Val Corbett / Country Life
(Image credit: Val Corbett / Country Life)

The wisteria is underplanted in greens and whites, including white chionodoxa and hellebores for spring, towering Eremurus Joanna and Digitalis purpurea Camelot Cream for summer and Aster divaricatus and white nerines for autumn.

The Private Gardens at Petworth House, West Sussex. ©Val Corbett / Country Life
(Image credit: Country Life Picture Library)

Key plants for May when the wisteria is in flower are Camassia leichtlinii Alba, the spires of long-lasting creamy flowers providing a delicate starry echo of the wisteria, and Euphorbia polychroma, whose mounds of bright yellow-green light up this lower layer. The ferns Polystichum setiferum Pulcherrimum Bevis and Polystichum munitum lend upright structure and a darker-green backdrop to the camassia and to the delicate creams and whites to come.


Credit: Getty

Alan Titchmarsh: A foolproof guide to growing wisteria

If you've been enviously eyeing the extraordinary wisteria on display across Britain this summer and wondering how you can grow

Credit: Val Corbett/Country Life

Alan Titchmarsh: 'I suppose I should be going stir-crazy in self-isolation. The reality has been rather different'

Gardener, writer and broadcaster Alan Titchmarsh has been going to the Chelsea Flower Show for half a century, and should

Credit: Alamy

Alan Titchmarsh: How to master the fine art of pottering

As time opens up for all of us to spend more time in the garden, Alan Titchmarsh offers his tips

Credit: Alamy

Alan Titchmarsh: Why I had to cut down my decades-old hedge — and how it's worked out better than I could ever have hoped

Even the most well-established gardens can take unexpected turns, says our columnist Alan Titchmarsh. But if you're prepared and flexible,

Non Morris