Clematis Care & Pruning
Compiled by Dolly Foster MGLIGHT EXPOSURE
Most clematis enjoy being exposed to at least 5 to 6 hours of sunlight daily. In hotter inland and canyon areas, planting pastel pink varieties in bright shade helps to minimize fading.
THE PLANTING SITE
This is a critical step to insuring the longevity of your clematis. In heavy or adobe soil dig a big hole, preferably 24"x 24". In lighter or sandy soil, a hole 18"x18" will do the trick. Save only the best of your topsoil. Amend the soil as conditions dictate.
Always cut the container before planting your clematis. This minimizes the risk of damaging your plant when removing it from the container. Gently remove the clematis rootball from the container and plant it in the hole so that the base of the plant's stems are sunk 3" to 5" below soil level. Leave the original stake on the clematis for the first year to act as a support as well as a protection against accidental breakage.
MULCHING
Place a 3" to 4" layer of soil amendment or peat moss over the root zone. Keep the mulch 8" away from the stem to avoid stem rot.
FEEDING
Clematis are heavy feeders. In spring, once the clematis buds are about 2 inches long, start feeding them with Gro-Power Flower 'n' Bloom. Alternate feedings every 4 to 6 weeks with Gro-Gro-Power All Purpose Plus. Use approximately 2 tablespoons per plant. Continue this alternate feeding until the end of September.
WATERING
Clematis need regular watering. Always water thoroughly and deeply during the hot summer months. Don't keep them too wet, especially in the winter when they're dormant.
SUPPORT
Clematis need support to grow. This can be achieved in many ways. From growing them on an arbor to up a trellis, onto other shrubs, on a fence, or an obelisk, the possibilities are only limited by your imagination.
PLANTING IN A CONTAINER
Just as in growing clematis in the ground, the following steps for planting in a container are crucial. Select a container that is at least 18"x 18". Fill your container with potting mix leaving an adequate amount of space for a good watering basin. As stated previously, cut the container to remove the plant. Gently lift the clematis's rootball from the nursery container and plant it so that the stems are sunk 3" to 5" below soil level. Feed and water as if it were planted in the ground.
STEM ROT (aka WILT)
Clematis are susceptible to many fungi that can cause them to 'wilt' or turn black and these fungi enter the plant via the stem and work their way up. Although this is a very disappointing malady it is usually not fatal if you
20. Dispose of all these diseased parts in a sealed plastic bag. Treat the soil with a copper-based fungicide and let it lie for 3 months.
FROM The American Clematis Society; www.clematis.org
Clematis Pruning; From Completely Clematis Specialty Nursery
Clematis can live up to 50 years. Proper pruning, typically done in the spring, can ensure your long-term investment.
The mere thought of pruning a clematis strikes fear into the hearts of even seasoned gardeners. Well, take heart, it's not that complicated and incorrect pruning is rarely (if ever) terminal. The worst that can happen is that it doesn't flower for a year. As far as pruning requirements are concerned, clematis can be divided into three groups; A, B or C.
PRUNING YOUNG CLEMATIS
I cannot stress too much that proper pruning of these young plants is absolutely critical for their future growth and development. All too often I have seen a perfectly good little clematis which has been planted out and allowed to develop one very long, spindly growth. And the owners have complained that either it's a weak plant or it doesn't flower well when the only real problem is how it's been treated.
A plant like this will take years to develop properly if it ever does. Roots and top growth need to develop proportionately. Top growth needs to be restrained until root growth is sufficient to support it. To do this, the clematis should be kept pruned back to a height of roughly 18"-24" the first year regardless of its pruning code. This will also encourage both branching and the development of multiple stems from the buds underground. This is particularly important for group B clematis which are notoriously reluctant to fatten up at the base. Two or more years of this treatment may be necessary for the plant to develop a satisfactory framework, but the rewards in terms of future flowering and general appearance are well worth it. During this time flowering is not sacrificed, rather delayed until later in the season.
Late season pruning of clematis is not recommended in areas which experience cold winters. Any unexpected warm spell will encourage new growth which will certainly be killed by the cold spell that follows. So resist the temptation to tidy up the clematis tangles in the fall...wait until Spring.
PRUNING GROUP A
These will flower on "old wood"- i.e., previous season's growth. This group includes montanas, alpinas and macropetalas and some large flowered hybrids such as Miss Bateman, General Sikorski, H.F. Young, Mrs. Cholmondeley, etc. These are the earliest clematis to flower (May-June for us in the North East, earlier in milder areas). Light pruning to remove any dead bits and neaten it up is all that's needed. (See diagram). If after a hard winter some stems appear dead, wait until the leaves are emerging on the rest of the plant and then prune slowly in sections, one stem at a time, from the top so as to avoid the premature removal of what is actually live wood. (I learned this the hard way!) If you have a Montana which has outgrown its allotted space and is in a terrible tangle, you can control it by pruning hard immediately after flowering. This will allow plenty of time for it to put out new growth which will in turn flower next spring. If you wish, you can take it right back to
A. Light pruning to remove dead bits.
Do wear gloves when pruning clematis as the brittle wood splinters easily under attack.
Upon concluding a pruning session it is a good idea to feed with a good all-purpose fertilizer and lime as needed. If your soil is deficient in phosphorus, sprinkle around a handful of superphosphate.
PRUNING GROUP B
This group is the one that drives people crazy! It will flower on both old and new wood and includes clematis whose most prolific blooming is in the spring (early to mid-June here) with a more modest show in the fall.
Proper pruning will do much to ensure a spectacular display. Basically you want to prune lightly, removing dead and weak wood first so as to get a better view of the plant. Remember that the largest flowers will be produced on old wood, so you don't want to remove too much. Prune slowly from the top until you reach a good bud, one stem at a time (See diagram). If the stems are growing together in a jumble, this is the time to carefully untangle by cutting the old leaf petioles to sever the stems from the support. Spread them out and reattach with twist ties. As the new growths emerge in the spring you can train them as you wish. If and when a "B" clematis has outgrown its space and it needs remedial pruning or rejuvenation, meaning a hard cutting back, this can be accomplished after the spring flowering and still leave plenty of time for the new shots to mature for a good fall display. Admittedly, some varieties (Will Goodwin and Henryi spring to mind) make it difficult to pin-point precisely when this first flush is over as they never really stop flowering. You will simply have to steel yourself to do the job: consider the greater good and chop the budded stems back by 1/3 or more as necessary.
If for whatever reason - perhaps a trip abroad or a family wedding - you want the heaviest flowering to be late in the season rather than early, you can accomplish this simply by pruning hard in the spring.
However, bear in mind that the double-flowered varieties carry the double crop on old wood, so that hard pruning will result in single flowers only. Some varieties, however, such as Vyvyan Pennell and Beauty of Worcester, like to surprise us with the occasional double bloom on new wood in summer and many of the newer hybrids such as Multi-Blue and Arctic Queen are double on old and new wood.
PRUNING GROUP C
Be ruthless here! Ignore the fat buds you see further up the stem, grit your teeth and cut back to a height of roughly 8"-12" (this should include 2 strong sets of buds. See
diagram). Do --this and you will be rewarded by the emergence of vigorous new shoots from the base which will result in a nice, full, multi-stemmed plant loaded with flowers. As the shoots grow you will of course want to spread them out so as to make the most of the display. Sometimes the plants are obliging and train themselves, but most often they need a firm guiding hand.
Always be sure to clean up pruning and dead leaves by putting them in the trash, never the compost.
B. Cut out dead growth and weak shoots to a strong pair of buds.
C. Cut back hard in early spring.
Clematis Pruning Groups Group 1 Clematis
(spring bloomers) (repeat bloomers) Group 2 Clematis (summer or fall bloomers) Group 3 Clematis
C. alpina 'Burford White' 'Columbine' 'Franci Rivis' 'Frankie' 'Jacqueline du Pré' 'Pamela Jackman' 'Rosy Pagoda' 'Ruby' 'White Columbine' 'Willy'
C. alpina subsp. sibirica
'White Moth' C. armandii 'Apple Blossom' 'Snowdrift' C. chiisanensis C. chrysocoma and cvs. 'Continuity' C. cirrhosa
C. cirrhosa var. balearica C. columbiana C. finetiana C. foetida C. forsteri C. gentianoides C. japonica C. macropetala and cvs. 'Blue Bird' 'Maidwell Hall' 'Markham's Pink' 'Snowbird' C. marata C. marmoraria C. meyeniana C. montana and cvs. f. grandiflora 'Alexander' 'Elizabeth' 'Peveril' 'Picton's Variety' 'Tetrarose' C. napaulensis C. petriei C. phlebantha C. quinquefoliolata C. florida C. patens Hybrids 'Alice Fisk' 'Andrew' 'Asao' 'Barbara Dibley' 'Barbara Jackman' 'Beauty of Richmond' 'Beauty of Worcester' 'Bees' Jubilee' 'Belle Nantaise' 'Belle of Woking' 'Capitaine Thuilleaux' 'Carnaby' 'Chalcedony' 'Charissima' 'Corona' 'Countess of Lovelace' 'Crimson King' 'C. W. Dowman' 'Daniel Deronda' 'Dawn' 'Dr. Ruppel' 'Duchess of Edinburgh'' 'Duchess of Sutherland' 'Edith' 'Édouard Defossé' 'Elsa Späth' (syn. 'Xerxes') 'Empress of India' 'Étoile de Malicorne' 'Étoile de Paris' 'Fair Rosamond' 'Fairy Queen' 'Fireworks' 'General Sikorski' 'Gillian Blades' 'Gladys Picard' 'Haku Ookan' 'Henryi' 'Herbert Johnson' 'H.F. Young' 'Horn of Plenty' 'Imperial' 'Ishobel' 'Jackmanii Alba' 'Jackmanii Rubra' 'James Mason' 'Joan Picton' 'John Paul II' 'John Warren' C. addisonii C. aethusifolia C. apiifolia C. brachiata C. buchananiana C. campaniflora C. chinensis C. connata C. crispa C. x durandii C. x eriostemon C. flammula C. fruticosa C. fusca C. heracleifolia 'Campanile' 'Wyevale' C. integrifolia 'Alba' 'Hendersonii' 'Pastel Pink' 'Tapestry' C. x jouiniana C. ladakhiana C. ochroleuca C. orientalis 'Bill MacKenzie' C. pitcheri
C. potaninii (syn. C. fargesii var. souliei) C. recta 'Purpurea' C. rehderiana C. serratifolia C. songarica C. stans C. tangutica
C. tangutica var. obtusiuscula C. terniflora (syn. C. paniculata) C. texensis
'Duchess of Albany' 'Étoile Rose' 'Gravetye Beauty' 'Lady Bird Johnson' 'Sir Trevor Lawrence'
C. tibetana C. versicolor
C. x vedrariensis and cvs. 'Highdown'
'Kathleen Wheeler' 'Keith Richardson' 'Ken Donson' 'King Edward VII' 'King George V' 'Kiri Te Kawana' 'Lady Caroline Nevill' 'Lady Londesborough' 'Lady Northcliffe' 'Lasurstern' 'Lawsoniana' 'Lincoln Star' 'Lord Nevill' 'Louise Rowe' 'Marie Boisselot' 'Miriam Markham' 'Miss Bateman' 'Miss Crawshay' 'Moonlight' 'Mrs. Bush' 'Mrs. Cholmondeley' 'Mrs. Hope' 'Mrs. George Jackman' 'Mrs. James Mason' 'Mrs. N. Thompson' 'Mrs. P.B. Truax' 'Mrs. Spencer Castle' 'My_j_' 'Nelly Moser' 'Niobe' 'Peveril Pearl' 'Princess of Wales' 'Prins Hendrik' 'Proteus' 'Richard Pennell' 'Royalty' 'Saturn' 'Scartho Gem' 'Sealand Gem' 'Serenata' 'Silver Moon' 'Sir Garnet Wolseley' 'Snow Queen' 'Susan Allsop' 'Sylvia Denny' 'The President' 'Titania' 'Twilight' 'Veronica's Choice 'Violet Charm' 'Violet Elizabeth' 'Vyvyan Pennell' 'Wada's Primrose' 'Walter Pennell' 'W.E. Gladstone' 'Wilhelmina Tull' 'Will Goodwin' 'William Kennett' C. viticella 'Abundance' 'Alba Luxurians' 'Carmencita' 'Elvan' 'Little Nell' 'Margot Koster' 'Minuet'
'Purpurea Plena Elegans' 'Royal Velours' 'Tango' 'Venosa Violacea' Hybrids 'Allanah' 'Aromatica' 'Ascotiensis' 'Blue Boy' 'Comtesse de Bouchaud' 'Cylindrica' 'Edward Prichard' 'Ernest Markham' 'Gipsy Queen' 'Guiding Star' 'Hagley Hybrid' 'Huldine' 'Jackmanii' 'John Huxtable' 'Kermesina'
'Lady Betty Balfour' 'Mme. Baron Veillard' 'Mme. Édouard André' 'Mme. Grangé' 'Mme. Julia Correvon' 'Margaret Hunt' 'Maureen' 'Mrs. Robert Brydon' 'Olgae' 'Pagoda' 'Perle d'Azur' 'Pink Fantasy' 'Prince Charles' 'Rouge Cardinal' 'Star of India' 'Victoria' 'Ville de Lyon' 'Voluceau' 'Warszawska Nike'
