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Caring for
Clematis
1st
June 2004
 Quite
rightly called Queen of the climbers, the clematis
is to be found growing in most gardens. There
are dozens of species and hundreds of varieties
to choose from with more being added to the
list every season.
While most of them are deciduous, losing their
foliage in winter, there are a significant number
of evergreen species. With careful planning
and a bit of luck it is just about possible
to have clematis in flower every month of the
year.
Clematis will succeed in most soils but they
prefer a rich, free draining, loam soil with
old, well rotted farmyard manure or compost
added to the base of the planting hole. Plant
4 inches deeper than when in the pot to encourage
the base of the stem to root. Clematis prefer
their roots to be cool and their heads in the
sun. Surface mulch around the root area with
bark or gravel.
 There
is a lot of confusion regarding when and how
to prune clematis. Unfortunately there are 3
groups,each with different requirements. The
first group includes clematis that flower on
the previous years growth. Most of them, such
as C. montana and C. armandii, flower in late
winter and spring. During March of the year
of planting cut these clematis to within 24
inches of the ground. The following year cut
down to 36 inches. In future years it is only
necessary to cut out thin, weak stems.
 The
early, large flowering varieties, also flower
on growths made the previous season. These include
such gems as ‘Carnaby’, ‘Lasurstern’
and ‘Dr Ruppel’. In the first two
years prune them in the same way as for those
in group one. Thereafter cut them back in spring
to a pair of strong, healthy growth buds and
remove any damaged or dead stems.
The third group are different. They flower later
in the season on growths produced during summer.
It includes famous varieties such as ‘Ville
de Lyon’’, ‘Jackmanii Superba’
and ‘Ernest Markham’. The growths
die back in autumn. In the year of planting
cut all the stems back to within 12 inches of
ground level in spring. For the second and subsequent
years cut the previous years growth back to
within a few inches of the older wood.
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