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Whatever do I do with old leggy Clematis

kathie51dkathie51d Posts: 100
in Plants
When I say leggy I mean marathon runner. When we moved in 3 years ago it was wonderful, 30ft approx by 10ft high but most of it leaning on a dangerous old 16ft greenhouse which we had to remove. It left a very old decayed wood fence with the Clematis and rampant woodland ivy holding each other up. Now, after the severe winter and gales the Clematis has somewhat collapsed, we pulled masses out of the Silver Birch which was fast disappearing under the weight of it and took out most of a dead strangled conifer under the pink one. I believe it is a Pink and a white Montana variety. The base is a huge knarled mass with bare stems up to an inch round running through the length of it. I want to take it all down to replace the fence against the flint wall but would love to have it clamber again. Now here is the crunch question, where on earth do I start and if I cut to the base, is it the end of this Clematis? This photo was the year we moved in and until early 2017 when we removed the greenhouse after flowering which the white one was growing over. 

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  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    You can cut it back hard and it will come back. Whether you can do that successfully if you're replacing the fence is a different matter though!
    Wait till it's finished flowering and then start cutting it back to a manageable size. It may not be possible to get all your fence replaced easily, but you've nothing to lose if you want to do that. You can always plant a new clematis.
    Alternatively, just prune the clems [you have one of each colour] back to keep it in check, and just pull out any bits of fence you can get at, and let the clems cover the wall the way they're doing already. They won't need the fence if they have the wall anyway  :)
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • kathie51dkathie51d Posts: 100
    Thank you Fairygirl, I have to replace the fence as the flint wall is only 3ft high and would offer no privacy or security. I will wait as you say till flowering is over. We will be interested to see how much flowers this year as we pruned drastically pulling it out of the silver birch. Our main concern is the rampant ivy, it is a real thug and has invaded the Clematis over the last year. Until we remove the rotten fencing and ivy we will know better whether it is a complete replant, I did pick up a lovely new potted pink Montana the other day( just in case) 
  • AnniDAnniD Posts: 12,585
    I cut my pink montana almost to the ground, and it came back as good as new. You may not have the same amount of flowers for a year or so, but l think it will be okay  :)
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