Clematis in bud dying
Sunseeker2
Posts: 5
After noticing with pleasure the many flower buds coming out on my clematis which grows across & over our garden fence last week, I was shocked to see they were dying off this morning. I have since realised that my neighbour has very enthusiastically ripped off all the clematis on his side of the fence. (pretty much half of the clematis) Obviously there isn't anything I can do now- but does anyone know if this will affect the flowering next summer? I'm not sure which clematis it is- but it normally flowers from late April through to late August continually. it seems to be happy if pruned October/November time. also if I will lose this summers flowers can anyone advise something which grows quickly & is bright & colourful? Many thanks for any advice.....
Posts
As long as there is no damage to the base of the plant and the stems on oyoru side of the fence the part left growing on your side should still flower. Try and cut off all the wilted stems below any breaks to tidy up the appearance and also tidy up torn stems that can allow bugs and viruses and bacteria to enter and damage the plant.
Give it a good feed of proper clematis plant food to encourage more flowers and good growth.
How high is the fence? Might be worth adding some trellis panels to the top or in front of it to allow your clem to grow higher before it flops over to your neighbour's side.
Ah that's great advice- I will get some clematis food, and trim the wilted stems, they are looking a bit sad. The fence is already 6 ft, but now I will make sure it doesn't grow over when I prune it. Thank you obelixx
Aw that makes me want to cry, why would they do that ??!! Looks so lovely for them too whilst you do all the work ! Why can they not just leave or let you trim it at the right time? The same happened to me but with honeysuckle, was lovely and thick, heavy with flower buds completely covering both sides of a minging concrete wall and my new neighbours chopped all their side off, I now have a mess that keeps falling forward onto itself ...... Ignorant!
I know! ???? the thing that annoys me is, there is so much information out there...there was no need for this outcome. I'm not very knowledgable about plants/pruning etc, but I ask at garden centres and Google stuff. If they had asked I would have offered to prune it back for them in the late autumn. It is such a beautiful flower too. Hey ho! Enjoy the sun people! ??????
I wanted to grow a climber along our fence but I can't decide whether to or not for this reason. I wish our neighbours would grow some and let it flop over my side!
Neighbours are allowed to prune back unwanted overhanging stems and branches but should aim to do it in away that does not damage the plant or boundary hedge or fence. It might be worth asking them to do a neater job in future but they have done nothing wrong in law.
Maybe it was interfering with something they're trying to grow their side of the fence. I had terrible problems at my old house with a free-ranging wisteria when new people moved in next door and didn't control it all.
I would agree Dyersend but both sides are like war zones, weed battlezones and certainly with one side, it's a horrid concrete covered breezeblock wall
. Infinitely improved by honeysuckle, which has been decimated. My othersides a nice drystone wall and we've come to an agreement to let me prune the honeysuckle there and keep under control, with gorgeous yellow and crimson flowers in a neat framework.
Thanks for all your comments. The clematis is a very well estabished one. We inherited it when we moved into our house 6 years ago. It covered the 6 ft fence halfway down on both sides. it does get very bushy as it is very prolific, the roots on my side are about 1/2 inch thick. When we prune it in winter, we cut it back and it still grows wonderfully in spring as it flowers off the old wood. I can only assume they were annoyed by it and hadn't pruned it so just decided to rip it all off. The prob is what's left on my side is falling into my garden now as its heavy, a lot of the new growth has died as it was obviously growing on both sides. I don't think they are growing anything, they appear to just like cutting stuff! when I speak to them I will offer to prune it at the right time, but was so upset I needed to leave it until I can talk calmly, i think they just didn't think. Shame really