Hi @Kitty 2 Many thanks. The first year I pruned everything back to some good buds close to the base - I always prune my clematis on Valentines Day or there abouts - the St Valentine's Day Massacre... Since then I've pruned down to about 12"-18" where I find a good pair of buds. However - I did read a post from @Richard Hodson a while back where he suggested pruning back to different levels. This makes a lot of sense. I usually find as she grows that a big tangle occurs and though she looks lovely in flower, the entire plant reaches no more than about 4ft and many flowers a buried deep in the tangle of shoots. I know she's not a tall plant, but next year I'm going to follow Richard's suggestion and prune back shoots to different levels in the hope of achieving a more uniform plant and a better distribution of flowers
Billericay - Essex
Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
Hi @Pete8. Thank you for your detailed reply 😊. I feel much more confident about a hard prune next spring now. I do my 'valentine's day massacre' a few weeks later in March up here.
Richard's advice on pruning different levels into a G2 makes sense to me too. I shall be trying that tip out on other established ones I have👍.
I hope it isn't vine weevil on your Rebecca. I have luckily not come across that problem (yet). Last night on my nightly slug hunt I found 3 large ones in the vicinity and two caterpillars actually on the clematis. I love butterflies and moths, and couldn't bring myself to squish them, so they went over the wall.
Also hope it's not vine weevil, researched it a bit and it states that it's mostly when planted in pots. My clematis is planted pretty deep with slate chippings on top so the area's pretty clean. However I do have a rose in a pot next to it? I wonder if there may be something in there that's munching away on the Rebecca. I may just move the pot away from it.
Can't believe I'm saying this dee, but I hope it really is just little caterpillars having a sneaky nibble. Have you checked the underside of the leaves for egg clusters? I found a bunch of them on my "Westerplatte" clematis a couple of weeks ago. Scraped them right off with my fingernail and binned them. I'm crossing my fingers for you 😊.
Well I have now been out and purchased "Bug Clear vine weevil killer" and following instructions, have soaked all around the base of the plant into the compost as well as spraying the leaves. I also states that it will kill other bugs too.The more research I've done the more I'm convinced it is vine weevil despite it not being in a pot. I've also treated the potted rose that's next to it. There's nothing more I can do but keep my fingers x that it will be ok. Thanks for your input everyone.
Snails/slugs I'd say, Kitty Covering the base of clematis with bark, gravel, cobbles, slate [ chips of any type ] just provides a place for them all to hide. Clear it away and make it easier to find and dispatch them. The problem with using any insecticide dee, is that you kill everything beneficial as well. Once the plant is mature, it'll shrug off damage more easily. Even weevils, but they don't usually bother clematis very much in my experience. It's often the very tiny snails which cause the most damage to foliage too. Little b***ers
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
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Many thanks.
The first year I pruned everything back to some good buds close to the base - I always prune my clematis on Valentines Day or there abouts - the St Valentine's Day Massacre...
Since then I've pruned down to about 12"-18" where I find a good pair of buds.
However - I did read a post from @Richard Hodson a while back where he suggested pruning back to different levels. This makes a lot of sense.
I usually find as she grows that a big tangle occurs and though she looks lovely in flower, the entire plant reaches no more than about 4ft and many flowers a buried deep in the tangle of shoots.
I know she's not a tall plant, but next year I'm going to follow Richard's suggestion and prune back shoots to different levels in the hope of achieving a more uniform plant and a better distribution of flowers
Billericay - Essex
Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
Richard's advice on pruning different levels into a G2 makes sense to me too. I shall be trying that tip out on other established ones I have👍.
I found a bunch of them on my "Westerplatte" clematis a couple of weeks ago. Scraped them right off with my fingernail and binned them.
I'm crossing my fingers for you 😊.
Covering the base of clematis with bark, gravel, cobbles, slate [ chips of any type ] just provides a place for them all to hide. Clear it away and make it easier to find and dispatch them.
The problem with using any insecticide dee, is that you kill everything beneficial as well. Once the plant is mature, it'll shrug off damage more easily. Even weevils, but they don't usually bother clematis very much in my experience. It's often the very tiny snails which cause the most damage to foliage too. Little b***ers
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...