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Group 3 clematis help!
autumnglory
Posts: 255
in Plants
I've just planted a group 3 clematis, 'Polish Spirit'. It's only small and it only had one stem, which has unfortunately been damaged in the wind yesterday. The stem has bent and broken. If I cut it below the break will it spring back up again? There are a couple of shoots below the break.
I did think cutting it might encourage it to put out more shoots but it's only a tiny plant so I'm hoping it won't kill it.
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Tiny plants need extra care and attention in the big bad world so do everything you can to ensure success
Now for the good news, group 3 are the easiest type to grow and any damage early in the season should be quickly replaced, they are vigorous and happy to perform but as already said, baby plants need help to establish well
Thanks! So do you think I should cut it and give it a feed and hope for the best? What else can I do to give it the best chance?
Yes cut the broken stem just below the damage, it's not really an issue so long as yes-you feed it but also protect it from the rigours of the environment. Wind damage, slugs and snails will strip a clematis given half a chance, if not those sometimes caterpillars can do it.
I use grit piled on top of the main stems, some pellets and nocturnal slug hunts. I also saw off the base of the pot it came in (usually I don't buy babies but preschool plants) and half bury the pot at the base of the plant to protect thin stems from the carnage of my excitable pooch. This year I've also used copper tape around the pots
Just do what you can and keep checking on it
Thank you, that's really helpful! We don't seem to have many slugs here luckily, in comparison to our previous garden which had thousands. No pooch either unfortunately, despite repeatedly begging my OH!
I only bought the little plant because it was a bargain really, I usually buy bigger ones!
The Polish Spirit sounds like a 7cm or 8cm pot size liner, these are normally potted on in a clematis nursery for another year into a 2 litre deep pot, at the same time regularly cutting off all the top growth, this is used as cutting material.
Then you would be advised by the nursery people .to plant it about 4 inches deeper than it was in the 2 litre pot, this encourages new shoots from below ground.
A Polish Spirit, grown correctly, should have 20 - 30 flowering stems.
That sounds about right, it was in a small pot. It's planted in a patio planter now and I did plant it deep so I'll see how it goes. Thanks!