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Clematis as ground cover.
Robmarston
Posts: 338
in Plants
Hi, I’m thinking of using clematis as ground cover this year. I was wondering - can they be just left to scramble over the ground? Will they try to climb if a plant or wall is nearby? Are group 1,2or 3 better for this purpose? Are they looked after the same way as if they were climbing? Can anyone suggest any good ones?
Thanks.
Thanks.
0
Posts
Integrifolia and their crosses or hybrids. Lots of different colours. Purple, white, pink.
Look for durandii the most lovely deep purple and (I think? ) X diversifolia are scramblers too.
A popular one is Arabella, it scrambles and flowers for ages.
I have a nice tall pink one Alionoushka that has darker markings on the back, a lot of them do though.
They are better for ground cover though like many herbaceous plants die back. Most or many are group 3 so cut back in March.
They do not cling but tend to go up then flop over and along.
Heracleifolia are also useful but many tend to have quite big leaves. I have not grown these for this reason in our garden.
But there are some nice scented ones.
Jouiniana praecox big leaves gets quite tall if supported. But scented
C. recta might be too not sure but scented.
That'll get you started.
I think if you search for herbaceous clematis you will get the right kind of results. Non clinging or scrambling does not seem to work as well. Maybe just me.
I've only grown one this way before and it didn't get very far, but don't let that put you off and look to the group 3's.. Viticella types are good for this.. or there is a white one called 'Huldine' which can be displayed to advantage, as the flowers tend to look upwards, which is what you want... I would steer clear of herbaceous types..
Those who grow more Clematis than I do will have other suggestions I expect...
Yes they will climb when reaching something to support them but you can always train them in another direction...
You'd need slug and snail protection in spring and, like other clematis, they do best if well nourished and watered during their entire growing season.
This is the back of C.Alionushka with Corydalis elata Blue Summit. It is a 30 odd cm tall Corydalis with brittle stems. I can usually move the Clematis a bit as it goes up at first then flops over as it does not cling. Sorry it is not a better photo of Alis habit.
The clematis leaves are slightly right of centre bottom edge.....the pointy ones. And some above the flowers and buds top leftish.
And I agree with Marlorena and Obelixx about some slug protection. But once the clumps get growing and you get lots more stems after a couple of years, it is less of a problem.
I'm sorry I contradicted you earlier re herbaceous clematis, I hadn't seen your post at the time I put mine up.. strangely some posts appear sometime afterwards occasionally for some reason.. but just to add though about the herbaceous types, and I don't know if anyone else would agree, especially Richard Hodson if he's around, but I've grown Alionushka and a few others, and I observe that when some wayward stems hit the ground, the flowers tend to face the soil, rather than upturning... that is the reason I suggested avoiding those... just to be clear.. and why I favoured the viticellas because they tend to face upwards and outwards...
it all tie in together. I’ve got a group 3 in a pot which I inherited and guess it’s a Jackmanii, because it looks like one. I like the suggestions above and arabella looks lovely, as does huldine. But I’m gonna keep looking yet 😊