Second flush of flowers on my C. 'Samaritain Jo'. I always cut it down to approx. 50 cm after the first flush, mid-July and it never fails to flower again in September. Not affected in the least by the heatwave of this summer. And I didn't water it much either.
@Obelixx, need some advice please. I think I remember you saying once that you cut down your Group 2 clematis to the ground which perks them up? I've got C. Crystal Fountain, a group 2 and have just inserted a large metal obelisk over it. Having second thoughts about whether or not to cut it right down now as it's a tangled mess at the bottom and make it start again next year? It's in a south facing bed, with a wall behind it and wisteria above which it grows up into. Any thoughts please - and anybody else.
@Lizzie27 I wouldn't cut it down completely now as that tangled mess will give frost protection if you get a cold winter. Leave it till spring. The tangled mess will be easy to pull out and you can then give it a good feed of slow release fertiliser for clematis, roses or tomatoes.
If you really want to cut it back now, give it a thick mulch of garden compost or soil improver to protect the crown but also encourage healthy root growth and extra shoots next year.
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)."
These clematis on here are stunning! I definitely must get some I have seen here. We have an Armandii on the front of our cottage which is 10 metres in length! Love it’s beautiful evergreen leaves as well as its flowers albeit short lived:
One that did really well this year is Clematis Jackmanii (at least I think this is it) which is grown with honeysuckle Lonicera Halliana. Together they have a very long flowering time to cover a worn timber outbuilding:
@Obelixx can this one be cut fairly close to the ground in spring too? This spring I just cut out everything that looked bad so didn’t really reduce it in height much.
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Any thoughts please - and anybody else.
If you really want to cut it back now, give it a thick mulch of garden compost or soil improver to protect the crown but also encourage healthy root growth and extra shoots next year.