Forum home Problem solving
This Forum will close on Wednesday 27 March, 2024. Please refer to the announcement on the Discussions page for further detail.

Pruning Group 3 and Group 2 Clematis where the first buds are pretty high up

12346»

Posts

  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 30,090
    edited 18 February
    It will flower better if well fed and also if you can train it on tensioned wires or a trellis panel so that the stems are as horizontal as possible.   Left untrained it will just shoot straight up and get in a tangle you can't undo with all the flowers crammed together.

    If pruned as a group 2 you will get 2 shorter flushes of flowers as long as you feed it.  As a group 3, you will get one longer flush.  Either way, extra nutrients will promote bigger, flowers.

    Now you need to decide which way you want to go and stop second guessing yourself.  As @Fairygirl says, if it's healthy it will survive and thrive.
    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
  • Pink678Pink678 Posts: 498
    Thank you @Obelixx that is great advice on the training, and on the pros/cons of the pruning styles :) . Guessing you mean Group 2 when you say "If pruned as a group 3 you will get 2 shorter flushes of flowers as long as you feed it." I've got some nice clematis feed so fingers crossed it should be a good year.

  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 30,090
    Sorry, yes.  I'll edit it.

    Group 2 gives a first flush in May/June and then, if fed and pruned lightly, a second flush later on but, if it's a double, the second flush is often just single flowers.
    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
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    You can't make it have a second flush if the conditions don't suit.
    As I said earlier, we don't get much in the way of a second flush, if we get any at all,  simply because those types flower later to start with than they will further south.  :)
    If you get flowers in May or thereabouts, and your climate and conditions suit it, then there's a good chance you'll get more later on, assuming the plant is also mature.
    I don't even get an awful lot on the alpina or macro types I have, which also have 2nd flushes of flowers, even with the one which flowers in late March, although it's been more plentiful in the last coupe of years - presumably because our weather/climate has changed quite considerably in this part of the world.
    As @Obelixx says - 2nd flowering is often/usually just single flowers on a double type, but flower sizes also vary within the plant too - every flower won't be identical in size. 

    Large flowered clems appreciate good, rich soil and food, but don't feed anything extra once buds/flowers appear and open. Feed up to flowering, and then once they're done-depending on the richness of the soil of course.  :)
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • bédébédé Posts: 3,095
    The first objective of pruning is to control size, position, and shape.  Any special timing is to prevent loss of the next crop of flowers.
     location: Surrey Hills, England, ex-woodland acidic sand.
    "Have nothing in your garden that you don't know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."
  • Pink678Pink678 Posts: 498
    Thank you @Fairygirl that is interesting to hear how yours are faring, it really is so much dependent on local conditions and climate. Excellent advice on the feeding have taken note!
  • Pink678Pink678 Posts: 498
    edited 18 February
    Thank you @bédé that is a really good way to think about it, I will remember this.


  • Pink678Pink678 Posts: 498
    I tried emailing the Sally Evipo 077 breeder website at Raymond Evison Clematis to ask if it's Group 2 or Group 3 - here is the reply I got (nice of them to work on Sundays):
    "Many of the more modern cultivars such as Sally evipo077 have features of traditional Group 2 (early season flowering of previous seasons growth) and Group 3 (readily flowering off current seasons growth). Indeed the assessments they undergo specifically look for both features.
    It can be pruned as either."

Sign In or Register to comment.