How to Grow and Prune Glamorous Climbing Clematis

Due to the diversity of species which hail from all over the world there is a clematis to suit almost any position in the garden, and with the correct choice of species it is possible to have a clematis in flower during any month of the year.

A Selection of Clematis Varieties

Clematis flowers vary enormously in size and shape: –

• Clematis ‘Mrs Cholmondeley’ has single light-lavender 18cm wide bolooms in early summer.
• Clematis rehderiana has small (2cm) long thimble-shaped, yellow, cowslip-scented flowers in autumn.
• Clematis ‘Miss Bateman is a free flowering compact cultivar which reaches a height of 2 metres. It has white flowers, tinged pink and red anthers.
• Clematis cirrhosa ‘Freckles’ is an evergreen whose creamy, bell-shaped, mottled-red, scented flowers are most welcome during January and February.

Where to Use Climbing Clematis

Clematis enhance the vertical elements of the garden. They can be used to scramble through trees, up pergolas, walls or fences. Some clematis make good ground coverers. Clematis ‘Pixie’ is an evergreen with greenish-yellow scented flowers in spring. Not being too vigorous it is well suited to clothing the ground under shrubs.

How to Plant and Care for Clematis

These stunning plants are not tricky to care for:-

• Plant them deeply with their roots in the shade and their heads in the sun.
• Dig a large hole, twice as wide and half as deep again as the container the plant came in.
• Add some well-rotted garden compost to the base of the hole and mix some with the soil which has been excavated together with a handful of bone meal.
• Water the plant thoroughly before removing it from the container.
• Once out of the container lower the plant into the hole.
• Back-fill and firm the soil around the root ball, the surface of which should be 8cm below the surrounding soil when the job is complete.
• Water in thoroughly and continue to water generously during dry weather in the first year after planting.

Growing Clematis in Containers

Where ground space is tight there are plenty of clematis cultivars suitable for containers. Containers made from wood, stone and terracotta are more suitable than plastic ones which don’t offer sufficient protection from hard frosts which may lead to root death. The deeper and larger the container, the better, any container should be at least 45cm deep and 30-45cm wide with plenty of drainage holes. John Innes No 3 plus an extra 10-15 percent grit makes an ideal growing medium.

Pruning Clematis is Easy

Pruning clematis is really quite simple. It is governed by which group they belong to which depends on when they flower. Those flowering early in the year (group1) just require light pruning immediately after flowering. The early to mid-season flowerers (group2) should have their stems pruned back to a pair of strong buds before growth begins in spring. For late flowering types cut back all the previous year’s stems to 15-20cm above soil level.

Clothe Those Naked Walls With Clematis

Clematis are the ideal climbers for a variety of vertical situations and very importantly they are easy to grow.