Wisteria-Rescue/Saving

Q: Our older home deck needs renovation but a huge wisteria has been trained to grow through a hole in the middle of the deck and then climb a big arbor. Will I be able to rescue it?

A: I think rescue is possible. If you can get underneath to excavate some of the root ball and heave it up through the deck that might work. Failing that, excavate some long roots and plant them horizontally in a long trench somewhere nearby. Or even cut some three-foot-long sections of one-half inch diameter vine and plant them in horizontal trenches. It would be rare for wisteria not to sprout back from one of these methods.