Clematis pruning

Hutchisonelectrician

Hi folks, new gardener here. I have a clematis Ville de Lyon on the left of the trelles in the photo. It was planted not too long ago. It has a V about a foot up then both sides are growing straight up - about 5 foot so far on the right hand side.

My question is, do I have to prune the top off the plant to make it grow out sideways or will it hit a certain height then start growing out by itself? 

Also, do you let it grow straight up the trelles or should it be woven left and right? 


Many thanks

Craig 

Fairygirl

It's a Group 3 so you prune hard end of winter/early spring, and then you would tie the growth in horizontally to get good coverage. 
However, thats a very young plant, and would probably have benefited from potting on a bit more to get more stems from the base. Not to worry - it will mature and produce more each year.  It isn't the best looking bit of ground either, so you'll need to add lots of good compost regularly to keep it well nourished, with a bit of food and plenty of water too.

You can leave it until Feb/March  to prune, or you can prune it back a bit just now, to encourage a bit more root development. I'd prune it back to a good pair of leaves [near that V]  if it was mine, but it won't suffer either way 

Is that another clem on the right of it? You may find they will compete a bit too much. There isn't a lot of good, available ground for them.

Hutchisonelectrician

Fairygirl said:

It's a Group 3 so you prune hard end of winter/early spring, and then you would tie the growth in horizontally to get good coverage. 
However, thats a very young plant, and would probably have benefited from potting on a bit more to get more stems from the base. Not to worry - it will mature and produce more each year.  It isn't the best looking bit of ground either, so you'll need to add lots of good compost regularly to keep it well nourished, with a bit of food and plenty of water too.

You can leave it until Feb/March  to prune, or you can prune it back a bit just now, to encourage a bit more root development. I'd prune it back to a good pair of leaves [near that V]  if it was mine, but it won't suffer either way 

Is that another clem on the right of it? You may find they will compete a bit too much. There isn't a lot of good, available ground for them.

Thanks very much for the advice. I was reading on all sorts or forums about hard pruning and chopping down to about a foot from the ground but didnt quite understand it all as I though, what about all that growth upwards, does it just go to waste? It is a young plant and that is another one beside it but taken from a cutting so not sure if it's a Ville de Lyon - you can tell I'm an extreme novice 

Fairygirl

It's a lot of competition [2 clems] for such a tiny space. I'd be inclined to lift that other one, pot it up, and let it mature a bit before planting out somewhere. 

The pruning regime is because those clems flower on all the new growth they make in the current year, as opposed to ones which flower on old wood -Groups 1 and 2.  Those retain a framework of stems/branches and the flowers appear on those woody stems. There are 3 groups re pruning, and the Group 1s require only a tidy up if they outgrow their spot, and the Group 2s are the same, although you can also prune them like a Group 3. 
  
If you don't prune back Group 3s, all the flowers will be at the top of the stems, with the plant having a lot of bare growth lower down, which means you often don't see them!  Clematis are  also slightly different from many plants, as they produce new stems from below ground, and many benefit from being planted lower in the ground to encourage that. 
Hope that helps a little 

Hutchisonelectrician

airygirl said:

It's a lot of competition [2 clems] for such a tiny space. I'd be inclined to lift that other one, pot it up, and let it mature a bit before planting out somewhere. 

The pruning regime is because those clems flower on all the new growth they make in the current year, as opposed to ones which flower on old wood -Groups 1 and 2.  Those retain a framework of stems/branches and the flowers appear on those woody stems. There are 3 groups re pruning, and the Group 1s require only a tidy up if they outgrow their spot, and the Group 2s are the same, although you can also prune them like a Group 3. 
  
If you don't prune back Group 3s, all the flowers will be at the top of the stems, with the plant having a lot of bare growth lower down, which means you often don't see them!  Clematis are  also slightly different from many plants, as they produce new stems from below ground, and many benefit from being planted lower in the ground to encourage that. 
Hope that helps a little 

That helps a lot. I believe the clem to the right is from a group thatbdoesnt need pruned as much and the Ville de Lyon was bought as a present. Maybe what I'm actually looking for is the cutting to grow and cover that whole trelles rather than the Ville de Lyon.

Fairygirl

If you can find out what the other one is, that might help make a decision. Some Group 1s are huge - like montanas, and others aren't. A Group 2 would cover the whole trellis really well.
If it's a montana, it'll cover that whole trellis and then the building on the left 
It wouldn't be too late to take the Ville de Lyon out and find another spot for it, if that's the case. 

Valley Gardener

I have a Daniel Deronda,now in its second year. The first year it didnt really put on much growth heightwise,and I just left it alone. However this year its put on a lot of growth,to the top of an arch,and flowered twice. Ive just been out to check things now we have a brief respite from the rain,and Daniel is sprouting new growth. Whats the best way to prune? Can I leave it till spring?

Fairygirl

You can either leave it till late winter/spring and treat as a Group 3 by chopping it right back, so that it flowers a bit later, or just trim lightly after the initial flowering. 

I never found it very impressive here. It just sulked and never grew as well as other Group 2s. Apparently, it can be a bit like that.  I got rid as I don't have the room, or the inclination, to nurture plants which don't perform well enough. 

Valley Gardener

This years flowers are a big improvement on last,growing in big clusters,its formed some very strong tight "winders"so holding itself up quite well,maybe a light prune.😉
Thankyou Fg.

Foxies

@Fairygirl A question if I may please - how would you treat C. tangutica? I've managed to get some seeds to germinate after a long fridge session (basically I forgot about them!). They've germinated outside in a sheltered spot - actually in the topsoil of the apple tree which I asked advice about earlier on the forum (It's looking good, btw). Shall I leave them outside (as would happen naturally, I suppose) or bring them into the kitchen windowsill - I don't have a greenhouse altho' could probably throw together some kind of cold frame. 

Fairygirl

Not something I've ever grown @Foxies. I don't particularly like the flowers [sorry!] and although Bill McKenzie would probably be ok, I don't think many would like my climate, as, if I remember correctly, they like much drier conditions.
Having said that, I have a couple of alpinas/macropetalas that are thriving.
Is it a named variety you have?

They should be perfectly hardy though, and if you have them outside, I'd just keep them sheltered somewhere - against a wall to keep the worst of the weather off them, if you don't have a cold frame. 
It might be worth doing a bit of research online - one of the clematis specialists should have info.