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Clematis Woody Stems

rainey2089rainey2089 Posts: 3
in Problem solving

Does anyone know what's best to kill clematis woody stems? It's very overgrown and ideally would like it gone! 

Posts

  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 30,090
    Just hack it down.  Secateurs or pruning saw as applicable.   If it shoots again, either feed it and nurture it - correct feeding, pruning and training - or just keep snipping till it gives up.
    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)."
    Plato
  • Lizzie27Lizzie27 Posts: 12,494
    Just cut it all down to the ground first - big job by the look of it. Use a rake to pull the top all down if that's easier. It might well be very dusty so wear goggles/glasses and a mask or headscarf over your mouth/nose. Then either dig the roots out or very carefully use SBK brushwood killer on the stumps according to the directions.
    North East Somerset - Clay soil over limestone
  • rainey2089rainey2089 Posts: 3
    Will it keep growing once the roots have been cut? 
  • Lizzie27Lizzie27 Posts: 12,494
    It might, that's why technically you should try to dig the roots all out, or weedkill them but in reality, that might not be possible for you to do. If you can't, just keep cutting off any new shoots from the base and eventually the plant should die. Fingers crossed! 
    North East Somerset - Clay soil over limestone
  • rainey2089rainey2089 Posts: 3
    Ok great, thank you! It's taking over our garden so hopefully we can get it sorted 😁
  • Lizzie27Lizzie27 Posts: 12,494
    It looks like a clematis Montana and they can become beasts but the flowers are beautiful about April/May, either white or pink with a lovely fragrance. It can be kept under control by pruning each year but it's whether you want the bother.
    North East Somerset - Clay soil over limestone
  • Gillian AttwellGillian Attwell Posts: 18
    I hacked mine down, and new shoots came and it was beautiful again at a lower manageable level. Then just cut it back each year. Or it might die back , and then dig it out 
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