Where can i purchase the apparatus used to train wisteria standard's?
By Funguy
Berkshire,
United Kingdom 
Where can i purchase the apparatus used to train wisteria standard's(http://www.flickr.com/photos/timgoode7/3515712107/)? I have one train around a six foot pole but it is the metal wheel/dome that sits on the top of the pole that i am looking for. I often see standard wisteria that are for sale at garden centers tied onto them....but i cant find a place to buy it. I hope i am making sense :)
4 May, 2012
Answers
I have updated the question with a photo, hope this helps with an answer.
4 May, 2012
It looks like a wooden pole with a wide bowl hanging basket used as a top. You can get those types of hanging basket surrounds online - they tend to be for the likes of councils but independent GC's sell them. You could try making your own with similar materials or make a 'hanging basket' out of strong bamboo canes and twinning so that the Wisteria grows out of it in an umbrella fashion.
4 May, 2012
Oh, one of those, I get it now - I thought you meant one of those topiary shaper things...
Done a quick bit of research, but can't find anything other than 'do not let the main stems of wisteria twine around a wire training frame - they need pruning frequently and the frame will make that difficult, plus the wisteria will distort the frame'. Suggests tying the wisteria laterals onto a frame 'of any shape you so desire' but makes no helpful suggestions about where you might find such a thing, regardless of shape.
4 May, 2012
Thanks for your replies.
5 May, 2012
Not seen anything like that - wisteria, once it gets going, is such a prolific grower that any standard is usually pruned frequently heavily to keep it from taking over the universe, so its constantly reshaped anyway. The neat shape of, say, a bay standard or box standard is not achievable with wisteria.
4 May, 2012