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Montana dilemma

smigger55smigger55 Posts: 34
in Problem solving

Morning all, I started gardening earlier this year - absolutely love it... dont know why I never started earlier tbh... lol..  Anyway, one of the first plants I planted in May was a Clematis Montana... now I know they're Spring flowering plants and hopefully I'll get some flowers this coming Spring.   My dilemma is that it's grown vigorously up my front wall... which I'm happy about... but do I just leave it... or prune it back? If so, when do I do that?  thanks   

Posts

  • Hostafan1Hostafan1 Posts: 34,583

    prune it after the flowers pass ( prune it now and you won't get any in Spring) . You can be fairly ruthless with them. They're very resilient.

    Devon.
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 54,016

    In addition to what Hosta has said, try and put plenty of supports on your wall and train it horizontally as well. You'll get a better and bigger display of flowers. 

    Pruning is done only to keep them in place, but they're 'designed' to cover a large area.  image

    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • smigger55smigger55 Posts: 34

    Thanks everyone... will keep my eye on it... it's fine at the moment.. just didn't want it getting too out of control.  I'm assuming the growth will slow down or stop during winter months?    

  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 54,016

    Yes - foliage will drop and you'll be left with the  woody framework while it's dormant.

    The new growth will appear in late winter/early spring, and looks like little buds forming at the junctions of stems and branches  image

    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • smigger55smigger55 Posts: 34

    Thank you image   Looking forward to Spring already 

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