help have i killed my clematis
rosemummy
Posts: 2,010
Help, I've just given my clematis (montana) it's 1st quite hard prune as it was taking over and growing over the door and satellite dish..(husband wouldn't be happy if it affected sports viewing!).we're selling our house and I thought I'd better tidy up (have only just started doing anything in garden again now my little girl is one!)
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The Montanas are a very forgiving Clematis. it's hard to kill one off by pruning it too hard, but on the other hand if you have pruned it back into old wood, it might take a while to recover. If you have left a fair bit of greenery on, it won't hurt at all.
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Yes Id agree. Ive just put two montana clematis in the garden this year, Elizabeth and Alba one on a fence and one to cover an old seat both doing well. I know they can be pretty invasive but I can prune them too
I tend to give my established one a hard prune every 2cnd year just after flowering. That way it doesnt take over & get up into the soffits. Providing your plant is well established, which it sounds like, it'll be fine.
You'll need to continue tieing in the resulting new growth this year & it'll flower again on that wood next spring. J.
thankyou,it's 4 years old,so fairly established,just been out now though,it looks very sad and droopy..oops..should i give it a feed?.also,any advice on moving a gertrude jekyll rose been in 3 years,we're moving and it has sentimental value,think we're moving around September (so excited,get a v well planted garden though has been left for a couple of years,already got a wish list list of plants!)
I think it is likely that your montana is droopy because it has been rained on so much. I've had several for around 15 years and have never fed them, except incidentally when other plants near at hand get a dose of feed. It may also have just got very heavy, its own weight plus that of all the rain - prune away, you can't kill it. My neighbour chopped mine down, it was 18 foot long along our fence, and ended up an 18 inch stump - yes, we are still speaking, there was a misunderstanding about the nature of the plant - anyway, the point is that it has recovered and is heading off too be its origianl size again in a year or two.
Regarding your rose - very near the time of the move, dig it up with as much earth around the rootball as you can get, wrap it in wet sacking, pop into a bucket or something so there is not wet earth everywhere, and replant as soon as possible when you get where you are going. You will need to reduce the stems by at least one third, as it will need all its energy to make new roots where it is going. Septemeber - October is the best time to do this so the timing is right - good luck with it.
thanyou,clematis recoverd,i'd chopped some older stems as it's tangled and hard to see where newer shoots coming from,the droopy bits just need pruning off whwn i can get someone to hold the baby and someone else to hold the ladde