If you can't ID your clem how do you know how to prune???!

Hi, Clem lovers, Here's a question for you, if you please:

I have about a dozen clematis maybe 3 years old now. All growing nicely and actually getting too big for some planting spaces.

But now I can't remember which Clems they are so then of course, I don't know how to prune them.

Can anyone give me a clue on how to tell whether they are considered Group 1,2, or 3?

Or maybe there is some middle of the road way to prune that will not be like sending it to the guillotine if not done properly?

Any advice is much appreciated. Thanks. t.

Are they all the large flowered clematises like Henryi, Fireworks, Multi Blue, Duchess of Edinburgh, Belle of Woking?

Some are large.

A couple are smallish blooms and/or sort of bell shaped.

The bell shaped ones I have are all of the texensis class - cut to the ground in early spring.

For the others it would be a huge help if you could post a photo of each one and we can all try and help you identify them.

Thanks, pirl,

I just went to the nursery and checked out all of the clematis and several of them looked like they could be mine. I read the tags and they said (mostly) 'prune after bloom' or 'prune for size' or something like that. Anyway not too specific about the pruning, so I'm going to judiciously prune most of mine this week and see what happens.

The bell shaped ones I will do in the spring.

Thank you again for your interest in my dilemma! t.

You also have the option of cutting every other stem to the ground for the ones you're not 100% sure of, Judy.

Oh, good idea, thanks, pirl.

I always leave the stems intact until spring (I do remove the leaves). Then, in early spring, I inspect each. If last year's stems have no signs of growth, but there are new shoots coming up from the ground, I know it blooms on new wood and I prune the prior year's stems to the ground. If there are leaf buds on last year's wood, I don't prune. I don't know if this method is foolproof, but it has worked for me and the varieties I have (I know what most of mine are, but I'm usually too lazy to look them all up before I go out to prune). If this is bad advice, I hope someone will chime in :)

Makes sense to me.

Thanks for the tip!

I love that tip, too, Christina. Thanks.