Clematis - group 1 help
joannajmiller
Posts: 45
Hi all
New here! Having had the garden landscaped last year I'm finding I'm becoming green fingered! But I am an amateur and need help.
Last year we planted several clematis along a fence in our garden. Mostly group 3's (which I haven't yet pruned but will next Feb having done my research!)
But I'm struggling to know what to do with the group 1's - a montana and a freckles.
I've just looked at the montana label and it instructed to cut back to 1m in year two so as it's pretty much just finished flowering I went ahead - the whole thing was growing into a big mess as it had nowhere else to go vertically and had started drooping over and growing back into itself. Have I pruned it right?! I'm worried I've ruined it!
The freckles is very bushy on top but bare around the base. it's in a border but it's not hidden as well as the montana so it looks a bit ugly. I picked and cut one of the stems down to approx 1ft to try and encourage some lower growth but it all looks very woody and I am not sure where I should be cutting without losing most of it! I am better now waiting until next April when it's finished flowering again to do any more pruning?
From reading online it says that group 1's shouldn't be pruned - if that's the case how do I stop them becoming enormous and and from going woody at the base? I'm not really clear on what growth these bloom on!
Heeelp!
Posts
Here are some pics! Pic 1 with the lavender shows the Freckles, pic 2 shows the (now pruned) Montana.
Your montana will bloom on this year's growth so you've probably put paid to some of that by cutting it off. It won't kill the plant but it just won't flower so well. It's a montana so you won't stop it from getting enormous. Let it go to the top of it's support and then let it grow sideways along a fence or trellis.
http://www.gardenersworld.com/forum/plants/climber-for-a-north-facing-fence/983310.html
We've just been chatting about this one.
Bring your montana round and cover that wall.
Put up some support for it to twine onto.
Thanks, so confusing as the label said to cut back to 1m?!
When you say this year's growth, I'm confused?! Growth from March - May produces flowers for next spring? Sorry I am being dense.
Hi joanna - most montanas are the big guns of the clematis world, used for covering sheds, garages, ugly fences etc. They flower on old growth, so constantly pruning them means you lose the stems which would carry the flowers in the following spring. Usually, you would train them onto the structure they're on, weaving the stems in and out and tying them in as you go. You can do that horizontally to get better coverage. A framework of wires helps - I see you have something on your fence. Unlike most of the other clematis, they have a woody framework all year round, and the flowers will appear on that each year. If it's outgrowing it's space, you just prune to keep it in check.
Freckles probably won't get as big as the montana, but train it onto the fence in the same way to create the framework which it will have all year round. It flowers earlier and you can tidy it then if you need to.
Hope that's of some use.
Last edited: 12 June 2016 21:15:34
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Thanks - I didn't think about training it along the wall. I think I am best to just leave it well alone now. I was only going to tidy the ends but then I read the label
I hope I haven't destroyed it for next year. That said it grew enormously in 12 months after being planted last June so still hope it will get bushy again before next year.
It'll be fine - they're pretty robust. You've really done it the world of good as it will produce more stems and you can therefore get better coverage by tying them in horizontally
It'll make lots of growth during the rest of the year, so just tie it in while it's soft. It will gradually become woodier and that's when it becomes trickier, as it breaks when you try and bend it into the space you want it.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
I have Freckles and it grows rampantly here so I just hack it back as required. Once established they are tough plants by clematis standards. It will mean you lose some flowers but as this one tends to flower on and off all year round I doubt you'll even notice.
Yes I am worried there may be a few broken ones - oh well they will die back I suppose and there will be plenty more. Hard work this gardening lark!