Clematis

Last post 04-03-2008 7:42 AM by Carmen Miranda. 10 replies.

• 14/02/2008 08:00 AM

  Reg Langlois Location: Island of Jersey UK Joined on: 22 Mar 2006 Posts: 25

  Reply | Contact Just a quicky........ Am I too late to cut back and tidy up my clematis?. I have missed doing so, for this year, I think. Any advice please. Oh! and can I fork in bone meal around them now? This year we are told that the season here is three weeks early. Mind you , we were told that last year and the year before. If we listen to the experts and belive everything they say, I think that soon we will be having Christmas in the middle of the Summer. And takling about experts and sea water rising so many inches per hundred years. I am all right Jack! I live 230 feet above sea level. Reg ....... Jersey

• 14/02/2008 11:45 AM	In reply to
  sue1002 Location: Ipswich, Suffolk Joined on: 06 Sep 2005 Posts: 9,465	Reply | Contact It's not too late Reg, February is the ideal time for cutting back the group 3 clems, I noticed new buds on ours have started coming through and will be cutting them back to the bottom bud in the next few days. sue1002

• 14/02/2008 12:57 PM	In reply to
  cosmos Location: Swindon Joined on: 14 Feb 2008 Posts: 27	Reply | Contact Hello, what do you do when your not sure what clematis you have?

• 14/02/2008 01:45 PM

  In reply to

  sue1002 Location: Ipswich, Suffolk Joined on: 06 Sep 2005 Posts: 9,465

  Reply | Contact Hi cosmos, a good way to tell which group you have is the time of year that they flower. This page might help [url=http://rhs.org.uk/advice/profiles0201/clematis_pruning.asp]http://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profiles0201/clematis_pruning.asp?session=jdcxdr55bdzvsp55xz1xwbzr [/url]or if you know the name of the Clematis you could try the [url=http://rhs.org.uk/rhsplantselector/default.aspx]Plant Selector[/url] [Edited on 14/02/2008] sue1002

• 14/02/2008 04:47 PM	In reply to
  Phot's-Moll Location: The sunny South coast. Joined on: 06 Jan 2007 Posts: 4,540	Reply | Contact You can prune anytime, but if it's a winter or spring flowering one, you could lose this years flowers. If it normally flowers from late spring onwards you'll be fine - the worst that'll happen is that flowering might be slightly later than usual. Whether you think you can do a thing, or think you cannot, you are right.

• 14/02/2008 05:18 PM

  In reply to

  Figwort Location: Peterborough Joined on: 20 Dec 2007 Posts: 258

  Reply | Contact Basically, don't prune the early-flowering species (montana, alpina, macropetala and armandii) until after they've flowered. All others can be pruned late February/early March. The following website has some good info on the subject: http://www.gardenforum.demon.co.uk/clematis.htm There are never any problems in gardening - just opportunities! Geoff Hodge www.gardenforum.demon.co.uk

• 20/02/2008 01:14 PM	In reply to
  cosmos Location: Swindon Joined on: 14 Feb 2008 Posts: 27	Reply | Contact Thanks Sue, I will have pay attention for when it flowers!!

• 01/03/2008 04:14 PM	In reply to
  Penny S Location: Joined on: 01 Mar 2008 Posts: 1	Reply | Contact Check out "Clematis on the Web", it's a suberb site with an identifier & an A-Z.

• 03/03/2008 01:30 PM

  In reply to

  poodlesgardener Location: Joined on: 03 Mar 2008 Posts: 7

  Reply | Contact whoops - I pruned my C. montana last weekend! it was showing a few green signs, so I just hoped that it would pick up again. My only fear is, have I killed it? I'm just not an organised gardener. We've pruned the older, established Clem. at random intervals in the last 4years and it always survives, but only got the C.montana (freebie from RHS!) after Chelsea '06, and I'm pretty certain that I didn't touch in in '07.

• 03/03/2008 02:16 PM	In reply to
  Figwort Location: Peterborough Joined on: 20 Dec 2007 Posts: 258	Reply | Contact Poodles I doubt you've killed it, but don't expect any/many flowers this year! Montanas don't need to be pruned regularly - a simple tidy up is all that may be routinely needed - any pruning is done after flowering. There are never any problems in gardening - just opportunities! Geoff Hodge www.gardenforum.demon.co.uk

• 04/03/2008 07:42 AM

  In reply to

  Carmen Miranda Location: Joined on: 13 Feb 2008 Posts: 25

  Reply | Contact Clematis tend to be pretty tough, depending on the cultivar. I had one in a pot three years ago that the neighbours' builders decided was a dead plant (it was winter and the plant was dormant) so they uprooted it (I thought) and threw the pot across the garden. I found it with nothing showing above the soil, and I was absolutely gutted. Come spring, it sent shoots up, so there was obviously SOMETHING going on under the soil. So don't give up hope!