Spring garden prep...Clematis

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lanysturtle Buffalo, NY Mar 27, 2007

I have several Clematis plants that bloomed beautifully last year. As i inherited this garden from the previous homeowner, i am not familiar with how to care for all of the plants. The Clematis plants currently have alot of dead/dry growth on them leftover from last year (and previous years i think). One of the Clematis plants was completely choked off by this growth last year. Do i remove ALL of the dead/dry growth before the plants begin to grow this season? What is the best way to do this? What is the best care for Clematis?

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Redtootsiepop Livermore, CA(Zone 9b) Mar 27, 2007

Post this in the clematis forum, there are some great experts over there. There are 3 types of clematis, so it will depend - snap a picture if you can. Yours doesn't sound evergreen, tho, so you'll probably be able to prune and get alot more blooms.

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lafko06 Brimfield, MA(Zone 5a) Mar 31, 2007

With Clematis, you need to know the name of each type because they need to be cut back by either OLD or NEW growth. It makes a difference to know which kinds you have so you know when to cut back. For example, my Jackmanti in my Z5 gets cut back in Fall and comes back the next year bigger and better. Hope this helps a little bit for you, but as redtoot suggests, check the clematis forum and with a bit more details, they can advise you.

Best of luck and happy gardening!!!!

Megan

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WeeNel Ayrshire Scotland, United Kingdom May 13, 2007

The old gardeners had it right, if you take over a garden already planted, you should leave well alone for the first year and take note of all within, that way, you dont make any costly mistakes, it seams that your clematis is NOT evergreen, therefore will look untidy, dead wood etc, but once it starts to bud, you will be surprised at how green it can get, I think the previous advice is right, leave it till you know exactly when it flowers, this will give you some idea of what group it belongs to, then when to prune it, also the flower size and shape should help identify it a lot easier, if this is your first season with your new garden, I would leave all alone except for recognising weeds etc, and deal with that kind of work first, you will have plenty other jobs to get on with before you start to destroy any otherwise good mature plants.
Go chat to your new neighbours, they just might know the garden history.
good luck

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