Woo Hoo! Well done! The problem is that all the new growth is up at the top of the clematis. There's probably a way of pruning a part of it down to encourage growth further down. Either that or grow something to cover the baldy bit at the bottom.
Tony Hand is doing a favour for a friend by writing to ask advice on the pruning of a 20-year-old Clematis montana that has been neglected all its life. The climber has a coarse woody undercarriage with little or no leafy growth coming from it, over which a barely flowering sparse cascade of foliage falls down from the upper stringy growth that climbs the house.
Both Tony and his neighbour feel that the poor ancient thing would not survive a really hard pruning (down into the gnarled old wood).
Or would it? I strongly suspect it would, actually. I was faced with this problem a few years ago when the Kent peg tiles on the walls of my house had to be replaced (partly because the clematis had worked its way in between them). Once I pruned the rampant climber right down, leaving a single wispy shoot that was struggling from near the base of the plant — more out of compassion than anything else – the clematis got a completely new lease of life and, furthermore, I was able to provide it with proper wires to support it. I resolved to cut it back every five years or so.
And timing? Unless it absolutely has to be cut back now for some reason, it would be much better if Tony’s neighbour were to wait until immediately after it has flowered next May, at which point it will be about to have a major growth spurt — shoots subsequently produced will then flower the following year.
That guttering is in serious jeopardy. It's being forced out from the wall by those woody stems. I'd chop it down. It can only improve.
If you do cut it down you can then coax the new growth in the direction you want it to go because it'll be soft and pliable. You could have some over that roof outside the guttering and some the other way along the fence with some wires for support. It's a very big plant but it needs to be guided or you'll end up back at square one.
Looking good so far though. You might need a wire brush for those ivy remains.
Nothing to lose at this point. It might die or it might take off again. As it is it's not up to much. Cut it down to about six inches, maybe sprinkle some fertiliser around the base, I put pelleted chicken manure on everything, and leave it and see what happens.
They like to be quite deep so depending on what's already at the bottom you could build up the level a little bit. Now I'm bluffing because I'm just telling you what I would do but not necessarily what's right.
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And here's the finished product, ivy taken out but the other stuff left in.
Looked a lot better with the ivy! Need to improve now somehow...
Woo Hoo! Well done! The problem is that all the new growth is up at the top of the clematis. There's probably a way of pruning a part of it down to encourage growth further down. Either that or grow something to cover the baldy bit at the bottom.
Found this in the Telegraph:-
Revive old clematis
Tony Hand is doing a favour for a friend by writing to ask advice on the pruning of a 20-year-old Clematis montana that has been neglected all its life. The climber has a coarse woody undercarriage with little or no leafy growth coming from it, over which a barely flowering sparse cascade of foliage falls down from the upper stringy growth that climbs the house.
Both Tony and his neighbour feel that the poor ancient thing would not survive a really hard pruning (down into the gnarled old wood).
Or would it? I strongly suspect it would, actually. I was faced with this problem a few years ago when the Kent peg tiles on the walls of my house had to be replaced (partly because the clematis had worked its way in between them). Once I pruned the rampant climber right down, leaving a single wispy shoot that was struggling from near the base of the plant — more out of compassion than anything else – the clematis got a completely new lease of life and, furthermore, I was able to provide it with proper wires to support it. I resolved to cut it back every five years or so.
And timing? Unless it absolutely has to be cut back now for some reason, it would be much better if Tony’s neighbour were to wait until immediately after it has flowered next May, at which point it will be about to have a major growth spurt — shoots subsequently produced will then flower the following year.
Very bald! Seems to have grown underneath the ttiles too and sprouted higher. Not pretty...
That guttering is in serious jeopardy. It's being forced out from the wall by those woody stems. I'd chop it down. It can only improve.
If you do cut it down you can then coax the new growth in the direction you want it to go because it'll be soft and pliable. You could have some over that roof outside the guttering and some the other way along the fence with some wires for support. It's a very big plant but it needs to be guided or you'll end up back at square one.
Looking good so far though. You might need a wire brush for those ivy remains.
Thanks for your help so far. So you think cur back to two foot, remove the rest and let it grow until next year?
Nothing to lose at this point. It might die or it might take off again. As it is it's not up to much. Cut it down to about six inches, maybe sprinkle some fertiliser around the base, I put pelleted chicken manure on everything, and leave it and see what happens.
They like to be quite deep so depending on what's already at the bottom you could build up the level a little bit. Now I'm bluffing because I'm just telling you what I would do but not necessarily what's right.