Akebia Quinata Alba - nip out the top shoot?
By Jabba
Inverness-shire,
United Kingdom 
I have a section of fence about 5' high and 12' wide. Planted my Akebia couple of months ago. All of a sudden it has sprouted up the way with one main shoot. I am looking for it to spread across rather than up. Should I nip out this shoot and hope that this sends out shoots sideways?
Any help would be appreciated. I am in Inverness, Scotland
Thank you.
26 Jul, 2009
Answers
Many thanks. Appreciate the potential growth of this plant but, if I can get it grow sideways first, I might be able to keep it under control. Don't jnow if it will survive this far north - we had -9C last winter.
27 Jul, 2009
Well you have a bit of a problem there, really - if the fence is only five feet high, this plant usually reaches a minimum of 13 feet and eventually 20 feet high. That being the case, a bit of training is called for - I would certainly take out the top shoot - what you want to encourage is the side shoots, which you must then tie in horizontally across the spread of the fence, which will all then develop shoots going upwards, hopefully. Can you not add to the height of the fence by putting a trellis section on top at least?
26 Jul, 2009