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Clematis cirrhosa var. purpurascens 'Freckles' - Pruning

GillyWilly2GillyWilly2 Posts: 19
in Plants
My Clematis cirrhosa var. purpurascens 'Freckles' is rather untidy with a lot of dead leaves and stems at the top.  I would like to prune before the birds nest in it and it shoots and flowers again in the spring.  Can I do it now or should I wait - until after birds have nested in September.  Seems bird nesting and pruning group 1 don't coincide.  Thank you!


Posts

  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    edited January 2023
    Mine looks very similar … it’s the effect of a tough winter … but when spring arrives it’ll green up and look fine … mine is about ten years old and covers a trellis fence about 2m high by 4m wide and each year is home to a pair of robins and a pair of dunnocks (or rather a threesome, but that’s dunnocks for you 😉) … it’s never been pruned.
     
    With yours I think I’d put more trellising up so grating can spread out and not be so top heavy. 

    Hope that helps 😊 

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • Lizzie27Lizzie27 Posts: 12,494
    I'm a bit confused - my 'Freckles' has been flowering since November and still is now.
    I'll tidy up in a month or two when it's finished. If yours hasn't flowered yet and shows no signs of buds I'd wait until it flowers, then prune. It can take quite a hard prune if need be.
    North East Somerset - Clay soil over limestone
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    It looks as if the OP’s ‘Freckles’
    flowered earlier … there’s loads of seedheads there. 

    Mine is still flowering. When I said mine looked similar I was referring to the browning of the leaves. 

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • GillyWilly2GillyWilly2 Posts: 19
    Dovefromabove said:
    It looks as if the OP’s ‘Freckles’
    flowered earlier … there’s loads of seedheads there. 

    Mine is still flowering. When I said mine looked similar I was referring to the browning of the leaves. 
    Yes, mine flowered a couple of months ago and now has seed heads
  • Lizzie27Lizzie27 Posts: 12,494
    In that case, it's fine to prune now. I had to hard prune mine back because we had a new fence installed a couple of years ago, it's now regained the size it was.
    North East Somerset - Clay soil over limestone
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