Broken trellis

sallysue

Hi all,
We’ve a well established clematis in our new house that has a broken trellis behind it (the wood itself has broken in places and has also come loose from the wall as well). 

Any suggestions on how I can secure this without damaging the plant? 

Thanks! 

Fairygirl

The best thing to do is cut the clematis back and replace the trellis.
It won't harm the clematis at all, it'll only delay flowering - and that depends on the variety and when it flowers 

sallysue

How far back would you recommend cutting back the clematis? 

Dovefromabove

I'd take it down to about 18" tall.  I'd also scrape off as much of the surface soil as I could and replace it with well-rotted garden compost or some other organic soil improver.  

Fairygirl

As far back as you need to, to get at the trellis. I hacked back one of my early ones, a couple of years ago, to about a foot in order to alter the trellis and repaint it. It was back to almost full size the following summer 

Many clematis are actively pruned hard in late winter/early spring anyway, but even the ones which don't need any, other than the odd tidy up, will come to no harm. 
Do you know what variety it is? 

Doghouse Riley

Instead of replacing the trellis after you've cut it back, you could string laterally, reasonably strong  garden wire from eyes fixed in the wall which would be a more lasting arrangement.

I use the thin strip wire used to tie plants, vertically between these wires as these are easy to cut when I prune them back late in the year.

I did this for the new clematis on the side of our garage. there's two on the first panel. More further down. You don't notice the wire.