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Clematis planting
Guernsey Donkey2
Posts: 6,713
in Plants
I am about to plant some clematis - one in the flower bed and one in a huge pot that I have just bought. Question is can I use horse manure mixed with compost, grit and top soil and with a sprinkling of bonemeal to plant them in?
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Hi. As long as the horse manure is well rotted and not fresh that would be fine otherwise just leave out the horse manure and use all the other things you have mentioned. Remember to plant both clematis deeper than they are in their pots.
The one that you are planting in the border needs to go straight into your garden soil with no additives, providing the soil is free draining and not a sump.
For pot clematis I have gone full circle, tried John Innes, poor results, and ended up using Irish peat, any good multi purpose compost will be OK
Before planting either of your clematis stand them in a bucket of cold water for a couple of hours.
May I mooch in GD?
I'm glad I read this thread. You'd recommend no additives at all Richard? I have a montana to plant in a pretty grotty part of the garden with a view to it going along a fence. What ground prep, if any, would you recommend?
Thank you Ladybird and Richard for your very helpful tips - the manure is fresh so I will omit if from the planting mixture that I was going to make up prior to planting. The compost that we have purchased has a mix of seaweed in it - so hopefully that will help the plant to thrive. The terracotta pot is enormous probably approx. 18 inches deep as I have read on here that they need depth for roots to flourish. I plan to put into the pot a few snowdrops or grape hyacinths later in the year to add a bit of colour in the winter/spring months.
That sounds lovely!
Depends what you mean by ' pretty grotty '
Clematis montana, the wild species from which your plant is derived, grows wild in Northern India, China, Himalayas, so please do not pamper your plant, it will look after itself provided your ground is not waterlogged in Winter, and is well drained.
'Pretty grotty ' will probably be heaven for your plant.
Sorry Richard. For some reason I missed your answer. I love my clematis so I "stalk" all your answers and advice all over the forum. It's invaluable. Thanks for your advice.
I have tried this on Aubretia and it has made a big difference. (My Aubretia just used to fade away in my untreated soil.)
Any Clematis buffs around here? Some of my Clematis do much better than others.
Any advice welcome.
'You must have some bread with it me duck!'
What varieties do you have, and what are their growing conditions like? Other planting could be taking vital moisture away from them for instance, and if they're planted too close to a wall, they'll be drier than is ideal fro many types.
Any extra info will help and also a few photos if you can manage it
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
My Montana is planted in a gravel patio area that is poor soil and is doing really well. I didn't improve the soil when I planted it. The other Montana I have is planted at the base of a large leylandii and has now reached the top and flowers every year. It never gets fed. It was here when I moved in 8 years ago and looks like it is very old judging by the stem. They seem to thrive on neglect.