This Forum will close on Wednesday 27 March, 2024. Please refer to the announcement on the Discussions page for further detail.
Pruning climbing roses and clematis
susiejennie
Posts: 20
I asked for advice about pruning my 'Compassion' rose climber and Bob very kindly put me onto the RHS website. I'm afraid Bob I did not find this all that helpful. I also, while on the website, asked about clematis pruning as have an Armandii and Montana both of which have got very thick. They suggested cutting them down to 6" in the spring. 
Seems v drastic but guess it will have to be done and then will have to start again. Wondered if anyone else out there had done this with their plants. Thanks in advance
0
Posts
You can hard prune both clematis, they actually enjoy a hard prune and as long as you give them a good mulch after pruning they will shoot away next spring. My montana was done late last year and has come back to half the size this year alone. So don't worry about them.
As for the rose, have a look at the youtube video below, it's very good and suits any climbing rose.
Both these clematis flower in spring on old wood so wait until they have finished flowering and then prne them as hard as you like.
Give them a generous feed of slow release clematis food once done and an instant tonic of liquid tomato or rose food and they shoud produce plenty of healthy new growth over the summer which you need to tie in and train before it gets into a complete tangle. Flowers will then come again the following spring.
Climbing roses usually flower best on new season's growth so, in early spring when no frost is forecast for a few days, prune out dead, broken and spindly stems. Tie in, as horizontally as possible, the remaining strong stems and remove any which cross or grow out and away from their supports. This should leave you with a strong framework of stems with flowering spurs that will gorw and produce a sho in summer.
Feed generously with rose fetiliser and liquid tomato or rose food. Keep them dead headed through the season and they should flower all summer. Did you find this page on the RHS site? https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?pid=189#section-3