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clematis planting - no woody stems yet

amanda50amanda50 Posts: 16
in Plants
Hi all,
i recently bought two very young Clematis x triternata ‘Rubromarginata’ from a supermarket. They are in ordinary 9cm pots and only have green shoots about 12” long, no woody stems. Can I plant them out in the border, bearing in mind the tops have to be 4” below the ground surface?  
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Posts

  • BorderlineBorderline Posts: 4,700
    That shouldn't be an issue. Do bury them, and keep the root areas cool and shaded. They should put on quite a bit of growth once the weather warms up.
  • Cambridgerose12Cambridgerose12 Posts: 1,134
    Yes, no problem at all. At most, put a bit of a slug barrier down around the point where the shoots emerge from the soil, but I live with a high mollusc level garden and clematis are one of the less palatable of plants.
  • BobTheGardenerBobTheGardener Posts: 11,384
    I always grow-on small clematis (a 9cm pot is tiny) in 3 litre, tall 'rose pots' for a year before planting out.  They seem to establish much better that way for me.
    A trowel in the hand is worth a thousand lost under a bush.
  • LynLyn Posts: 23,190
    So do I Bob, they stand a much better chance of surviving, you need to remember that most probably the supermarket plants have never seen the light of day.
    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

  • amanda50amanda50 Posts: 16
    Ooh thanks everyone for your prompt responses! 
    What I might do is plant one in the border to see how that gets on and grow the other one on as Bob says. 
  • amanda50amanda50 Posts: 16

    BobTheGardener said:
    I always grow-on small clematis (a 9cm pot is tiny) in 3 litre, tall 'rose pots' for a year before planting out.  They seem to establish much better that way for me.
    Thanks Bob, can I just ask, when you grow yours on in the rose pot do you plant it deep in the pot like one would if planting in the border?
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    In case Bob isn't available - I can answer that Amanda. Yes - plant a bit deeper   :)

    I do the same as he does - pot on into a good deep pot to allow the root system to develop. 9cm with a couple of green shoots is a very immature plant at this time of year.
    It'll struggle if it gets planted out now, no matter how good your conditions are - above ground and below. They're very vulnerable to slug/snail damage etc. and will easily get lost in a border if the soil's cold and wet. Easier to manage it in a pot for a while. 
    As Lyn said - supermarket plants are grown in cossetted conditions, so even a hardy plant needs a bit of care initially until it's toughened up for the big wide world. 
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • BobTheGardenerBobTheGardener Posts: 11,384
    Wot she said ^ :D
    A trowel in the hand is worth a thousand lost under a bush.
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    Bob  :D 
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • PosyPosy Posts: 3,601
    In my garden young clematis leaves are regarded as a treat by my slugs. They hardly get above soil level and they're gone. Protect if you can.
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