Obelixx has covered it pretty well there Ideally, you would have planted it a bit deeper than it was in the pot [unlike most plants] as that helps promote new stems from underground, but adding mulches will make up for it, unless you feel confident enough to lift it and replant. It'll take a few years to get to a good size, and you can help the coverage by tying in stems carefully round the obelisk to get good coverage Slugs are a pain - I go out at night to pick them off, but once the plants get more mature, they shrug them off a bit more easily. I tried a ring of pine cones round the bases of susceptible plants, and that also seemed to work very well. I have a tree at the end of the garden, so it was easy to get a little store of them.
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Hello, As long as clematis have a good nutritious compost and plenty of water they generally don't need too much feed. I add some general fertiliser, fish blood and bone to the compost when planting and that is all usually. Clematis are tough and flower freely without too much attention needed. Happy Gardening! Louise
I feed the whole garden with FBB in early spring. According to Taylors the clematis specialist you should feed weekly when growing and in bud but stop feeding once flowering starts.
Mine all get a good dollop of slow release fertiliser in spring - BF&B or pelleted chicken manure - plus occasional liquid feeds of tomato feed of liquid comfrey if theyr'e still in pots waiting to be planted out. I like to grow mine on in big pots for a season or two so they can establish a good strong root system before they have to try and cope with life in the garden proper.
Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
"The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
May be a stupid question. @Obelixx, when you say 2 seasons do you mean 2 years or a spring + summer. Asking as I have clematis in pots for an year now and was thinking they need to be 2yo to be good. However if this is enough I’d love to get planting as 6 clems in a patio is a serious faff! Thanks.
2 growing seasons. Eventual planting time depends on when it flowers so can be autumn to spring.
In Belgium, I used to buy mine from a clematis grower I would meet at a plant fair in May and then take them home and put them in a deeper and wider pot. They'd then do their thing all summer and then go into shelter for the first winter. Repeat the process the following year and then plant out in autumn in the final site or wait till spring if we had dodgy weather.
I developed this strategy after planting countless clems as soon as I got them and then losing them to slugs, snails, hail storms, winter, whatever. Often as not they'd pop up again 2 or 3 years later but by then the label was long gone........... Haven't had any problems since I started potting them first.
Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
"The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
If they're in the ground in good soil they're probably fine but compost in pots only ahs food for about 90 days which is fine for a half-hardy annual but nowhere near enough for a clematis to thrive.
My last garden was very fertile but had hard winters so a spring feed got them going again. In this new garden only 3 have made it into the ground and I don't think the soil is that rich so they've been fed. The 20 or so still in pots will be fed until they get permanent homes in the ground.
Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
"The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
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Ideally, you would have planted it a bit deeper than it was in the pot [unlike most plants] as that helps promote new stems from underground, but adding mulches will make up for it, unless you feel confident enough to lift it and replant. It'll take a few years to get to a good size, and you can help the coverage by tying in stems carefully round the obelisk to get good coverage
Slugs are a pain - I go out at night to pick them off, but once the plants get more mature, they shrug them off a bit more easily.
I tried a ring of pine cones round the bases of susceptible plants, and that also seemed to work very well. I have a tree at the end of the garden, so it was easy to get a little store of them.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
As long as clematis have a good nutritious compost and plenty of water they generally don't need too much feed.
I add some general fertiliser, fish blood and bone to the compost when planting and that is all usually.
Clematis are tough and flower freely without too much attention needed.
Happy Gardening!
Louise
https://plantsbulbsseeds.com
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
In Belgium, I used to buy mine from a clematis grower I would meet at a plant fair in May and then take them home and put them in a deeper and wider pot. They'd then do their thing all summer and then go into shelter for the first winter. Repeat the process the following year and then plant out in autumn in the final site or wait till spring if we had dodgy weather.
I developed this strategy after planting countless clems as soon as I got them and then losing them to slugs, snails, hail storms, winter, whatever. Often as not they'd pop up again 2 or 3 years later but by then the label was long gone........... Haven't had any problems since I started potting them first.
(All £1 plants from Morrisons!)
My last garden was very fertile but had hard winters so a spring feed got them going again. In this new garden only 3 have made it into the ground and I don't think the soil is that rich so they've been fed. The 20 or so still in pots will be fed until they get permanent homes in the ground.