Pruning clematis
BY READERS DIGEST
1st Jan 2015 Home & Garden
Pruning clematis, just like other flowers, is very important for the life and health of the plant. Follow this easy advice for healthy clematis.
A gardener’s advice
1. The severity of pruning clematis will vary according to the flowering time of the variety, size of flowers and time of bloom.
2. Large-flowered clematis that bloom in early to midsummer, such as lasurstern, nelly moser and the president: first remove all dead, damaged or weak shoots, then cut back healthy stems to a strong pair of buds. Hard prune some shoots and lightly prune others for a plant that flowers from top to bottom.
3. Species and large-flowered hybrids that bloom in late summer, such as ernest markham, gipsy queen, jackmanii, clematis tangutica and C. viticella and its hybrids: cut back all stems to 1 to 2 feet (30 to 60cm), just above a strong pair of buds.
4. If you are not sure of the variety of clemantis you are dealing with, then treat the plant as the first group mentioned above, large-flowered clematis; this is your safest method to be sure of a good crop of flowers as well as to encourage strong, healthy shoots.
