I have three clematis, Dorothy Walton, General Sikorsky and Comptess de Bouchard, that I want to move. When can I do that and should I cut them down first?
When they are dormant and have lost their leaves or by mid November - whichever comes first. You can cut them back to about 12 to 24 inches as the first two are group 3s for pruning and group 2s like the General can be treated as group 3s. I do with mine.
Make sure you water generously at least an hour before you move them and then dig out as deeply as possible as their roots go very deep down. Prepare their new planting holes first and add plenty of well rotted garden compost and manure to the soil. Re-plant a few inches deeper than before to encourage extra shoots to form and water in well.
In spring, apply a generous dollop of clematis feed and when shoots start to show, give them a liquid tonic of tomato food. Repeat the liquid feed occasionally till flowering starts and then into summer to keep them growing and flowering well.
Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
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When they are dormant and have lost their leaves or by mid November - whichever comes first. You can cut them back to about 12 to 24 inches as the first two are group 3s for pruning and group 2s like the General can be treated as group 3s. I do with mine.
Make sure you water generously at least an hour before you move them and then dig out as deeply as possible as their roots go very deep down. Prepare their new planting holes first and add plenty of well rotted garden compost and manure to the soil. Re-plant a few inches deeper than before to encourage extra shoots to form and water in well.
In spring, apply a generous dollop of clematis feed and when shoots start to show, give them a liquid tonic of tomato food. Repeat the liquid feed occasionally till flowering starts and then into summer to keep them growing and flowering well.
Many thanks obelixx.