Clematis: Pruning...and chat continued, 1 by pirl

pirl wrote:
Here's a site with a drawing to show you exactly how it's done, Annette. Just scroll down to see the drawing.
http://www.gardenaction.co.uk/plantfinder/clematis_23.asp

It gives you the idea of how to do it but it goes further than I do. I don't use wire hooks or earth staples and I don't nick the stem (fear I'll break it). I wet the compost covering the layering well and use a brick to hold it in place and the brick serves to remind me of the layering. Take a photo of it so you'll have a record of when you did it. Don't dig it up at the first sign of growth but let it remain for a minimum of a full year. The one layering will send up multiple stems but they're all from the same layering so please don't try to separate them. You can do multiple layerings but put them in different directions from the mother plant (north, east, south, west) to give each one maximum room.

I layered this one in early spring of 2010 and will move it in February of 2012. I'll take photos of the roots then so you can see it.

Please ask questions for anything I may have missed.

Kathy - let us know how your layerings did. Thanks.