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Another clematis question
hi again, I was so encouraged by the response to my first question I’ve decided to ask another one!
Hope you can see this properly. I have two clematis on this fence which I planted 2016.
The one on the left I’ve highlighted in blue is c. “Polish Spirit” which has got several stems and is romping away, if a bit leggy at the bottom. The vast majority of the greenery is from this one. I understand I should have pruned this one early spring but haven’t done so yet.
The one on the right highlighted in red is Markham’s Pink and as you can see is basically just one long stem with the leaves only growing from about 2/3 up the fence across to the left. It is alive, it even has some flower buds at the end. I understand this clematis grows on one year old wood?
My question is, can/should I prune either of these back now, especially to try and get the Markhams one growing properly ? If so, how much? I really don’t want to kill them.
Any advice gratefully received!
Hope you can see this properly. I have two clematis on this fence which I planted 2016.
The one on the left I’ve highlighted in blue is c. “Polish Spirit” which has got several stems and is romping away, if a bit leggy at the bottom. The vast majority of the greenery is from this one. I understand I should have pruned this one early spring but haven’t done so yet.
The one on the right highlighted in red is Markham’s Pink and as you can see is basically just one long stem with the leaves only growing from about 2/3 up the fence across to the left. It is alive, it even has some flower buds at the end. I understand this clematis grows on one year old wood?
My question is, can/should I prune either of these back now, especially to try and get the Markhams one growing properly ? If so, how much? I really don’t want to kill them.
Any advice gratefully received!
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Markham's Pink is a group 1 so needs little pruning other than to keep it in check and you would do that immediately after flowering. They do get leggy which is why it's a good idea to prune them hard when first planted as this encourages more shoots from low down and below ground. You would then prune these new shoots above the first or second set of new leaves to encourage more branching lower to the ground. If it gets too leggy, you could try cutting it back hard (to about 30cm from the ground) next winter but they don't always come back from doing that.
My Polish Spirit grows so strongly that I leave several stems on and only cut those back to 50cm or so. Those stems giver earlier flowers so extend the season (which is already incredibly long!) The next spring, those stems are cut to the ground and others selected for the partial hack. Super plant!
I'd aslo agree that they're very close together, so it's even more important that you give them plenty of water and nourishment if you don't want to move one of them. You have quite a bit of other planting close by so there's a lot of competition for water and nutrients.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
I can’t remember exactly but I thought I had pruned the Markhams hard when I planted it, it’s possible I didn’t though, what with other commitments going on.
I will leave it then for now and try pruning it after flowering.
Thanks very much again!