Chinese Wolfberry Getting Too Large
Answered by: Inge Poot
Question from: Barbara Anderson
Posted on: December 04, 2006

I purchased a couple of wolf berry plants last fall (’05). One of them took, and now is spreading. Two questions:

1. I don’t want it to take over the entire area, should I be concerned? Perhaps I should just dig it out and plant it elsewhere. I don’t know how high it is supposed to be, I thought it was under 2 feet, but I guess not.

The plant will get 2.5 to 4 meters (5 to 12 feet) tall and 3 to 5 meters (9 to 15 feet) wide! If you gave it a spot meant for a two foot plant you had better move it in the spring as soon as you can get into the ground. The move will probably delay flowering and fruiting again, but at least you won’t rip the plant out because it has smothered its neighbours! Tie it to a trellis, since it is more of a vine than a bush.

2. Since it started the year as a single stalk, and didn’t flower last year, I don’t know when or if it should be pruned. It looks straggly. When would I expect to get fruit from this bush?

Most shrubs reach maturity at about 4 years of age. You may have to wait that long. To combat the straggly look give it support as mentioned above. If you must prune, do it after blooming so you know what you are cutting away.

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