Pruning clematis

[@soulgirlktf]

What an amazing knowledge you have I love the way you explain everything and what a wonderful garden, thanks I love your vids cheering up a gloomy winter day here. I've just had appleblossom & tetrarose delivered from Taylors this afternoon - moved house and need to cover a newly erected long fence fairly quickly. I tried to bring as much as I could from my old garden, we had 2 moving trucks for the house contents and 1 extra large truck for the garden stuff LoL but you can never have enough plants can you!

[@kenblackclematis8272]

It sounds like you are my sort of gardener!

[@Evelyn-vs3fk]

I enjoyed watching this tutorial on the plant. Thank you for putting this on. You are an very informative man.

[@kenblackclematis8272]

I am pleased that you find the videos useful.

[@billhardy7870]

Very good presentation and very informative. I wish we could have 'winter flowering clematis' where I live, but in Western NY State in the US, everything goes dormant or dies in US Zone 6a. I do have a few in pots that would otherwise not survive the winter that can easily brought into less harsh conditions. Very happy I came upon your channel today. Thank you!

[@kenblackclematis8272]

Glad you liked it and that it helped.

[@grahamthomas411]

Forgot to say you are a great teacher easy to follow 👍👍👍

[@kenblackclematis8272]

Thank you

[@teslaandhumanity7383]

Great tip if it flowers before June don’t prune . Jotted down in my notes 📝. ❤

[@stevieb6173]

I could listen to this guy all day long, he's so knowledgable and interesting , and a great voice for this kind of work 👍👍

[@kenblackclematis8272]

My apologies for taking so long to reply but I am pleased that you find the videos useful.

[@tamaraeveriss9626]

Thank you so much for such comprehensive video. I really love clematis and have several of them in my garden, all 3 pruning groups and a winder one-Nepalese. Every spring I learn more about their pruning. You just saved my Crystal Fontaine clematis from being pruned in wrong time of year!!! Happy gardening

[@kenblackclematis8272]

Happy gardening to you too.

[@tenealsimpson4893]

G'day from Australia 🤠 thoroughly enjoyed this video very informative thank you so very much 😁👍👍

[@pauliusdanielius1665]

I love watching your videos and renewing my knowledge in preparation for clematis boom this season - at least 20 new varieties are coming! And it was nice surprise you have chosen one from my country - Justa as an example :) .

[@kenblackclematis8272]

Enjoy the clematis boom. Go to my website kenblackclematis.com and download my chart on growing clematis throughout the year and find out that the boom can last all year.

[@margaretmay288]

I'm looking forward to more videos from you, so informative.

[@kenblackclematis8272]

One due out in few days

[@matthewgarfield-bennett8771]

Very interesting and informative - many thanks !

[@kenblackclematis8272]

Glad it was helpful!

[@maidmarion2976]

How to solve a mystery in a few short minutes. Thank you so much. Have been pruning the tops of the Clematis by a third. Wondered why it didn’t work.

[@kenblackclematis8272]

Don’t worry it is not an exact science

[@hannahadlergontard7057]

Thank you for all yours videos, they are very instructives! After seeimg your wonderful collection i just ordered four more! All seen in your channel. My garden is quite new and small and my first clematites are two years old. Is it normal for them grow slowly? I imagined many flowers since the first Spring!

[@annemariefitzpatrick667]

Oops sorry I’ve just seen that you answered this question a month ago. Many thanks for the demos.

[@tinaknutsen]

Thank you Ken for the video. I do wish you could have showed the flowers of each variety before pruning back. The home I purchased has several clematis plants that I still am confused when and how to prune.

[@kenblackclematis8272]

First of all what Country do you live in. That will affect when you prune. I will do my best to help when you tell me that.

[@grahamthomas411]

Thank you for taking the time to reply 👍👍

[@kenblackclematis8272]

Any time!

[@carolinetierney1146]

Some great advice.. Thanks very much!

[@kenblackclematis8272]

Glad it was helpful!

[@georgeanngamble8149]

Yes you are a great teacher easy to understand but I threw away my tags but you’re a wonderful source of information thank you also for fertilizers 😉

[@kenblackclematis8272]

I am pleased that you find them helpful

[@fishing-gardening-travelling]

The Clematis Justa information you are holding - I have two of them, front and back garden.

[@kenblackclematis8272]

It is a nice clematis

[@andreasfasterding2309]

we have the glady's picarde , in garden. wonderful Videos from you 👍

[@wendychandler8304]

An extremely helpful video, thank you Ken.

[@kenblackclematis8272]

Glad it was helpful!

[@wendychandler8304]

​@@kenblackclematis8272 I've watched this countless times and from many on YT would rate it in the top three 'how to' videos for its detail and calm, straightforward delivery. Thank you Ken.

[@kenblackclematis8272]

@@wendychandler8304 only top 3!!!!! Only joking. Thank you for your support. More videos to come this year.

[@victoriamcgovern7986]

Thank you for the information. It is May in my zone 7 area, and I recently rescued two clematis from being removed from a garden and pitched as refuse. They are between five and 10 years old, they have been cut down to 8 inches of large stem. The other was just a root ball of spidery looking roots. Is there any hope for them?

[@susanpratt6344]

Herbaceous? Would that be what yhey csll bush clematis? Am on the waiting list for one. Can't wait really.🙂

[@kenblackclematis8272]

Possibly but I have heard the expression bush clematis before

[@sheilamurphy9382]

Very good tips. Enjoyed it

[@kenblackclematis8272]

Glad it was helpful!

[@pertelote4526]

Thank you very much for sharing your knowledge with us. Could you, please, tell me the name of the clematis whose flowers look like little white bells? I saw it this summer in Germany, it was lovely. I would love to buy it but I cannot find the name anywhere.

[@kenblackclematis8272]

There are many clematis that fit your description, such as viorna Kaiu.. if you go to the website Clematis on the Web there are several search engines, one of which is a picture search Type in the word viorna and look through the photos for white ones. Viorna is certainly the shape you describe. Good luck

[@pertelote4526]

@@kenblackclematis8272 Thank you very much, I really appreciate it!

[@deirdremurray2750]

Thank you. That was very helpful.

[@kenblackclematis8272]

Thank you

[@emilielefebvre3088]

Great video! Easy to understand :-) My clematis "Sweet summer love" tends to flower at the top. How can I help my clematis flower more evenly through? Is it because it is only planted from last summer or is there a special pruning technic?

[@kenblackclematis8272]

Sweet Summer Love can be pruned very hard down to almost ground level and that will keep it from getting too tall. Also, I grow mine up and along a mesh trellis that encourages it to spread and not just climb

[@emilielefebvre9139]

@@kenblackclematis8272 Thank you for your advice ! It is very much appreciated. My Sweet Summer Love climb on a mesh fence of 6 feet high. I live in zone 4 in Canada, so I will hard prune it in early spring (April) next year.

[@grahamthomas411]

FEED would chicken pellets or tom feed OR b/f/bone be ok to use !! Thanks for your time and help 👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍

[@kenblackclematis8272]

I use bone meal when I plant clematis or shrubs in the ground. I top dress with blood fish and bone at the end of each winter. Clematis in pots receive a slow release 12 - 14 month Osmocote fertilizer each spring. Glad you enjoy the content of the videos

[@kenblackclematis8272]

Fish blood and bone is a good slow release fertiliser which can be applied in early spring and supplemented with tomato feed once the clematis really starts growing

[@dorisafejuku968]

Very useful information.

[@kenblackclematis8272]

I am glad it was helpful

[@paulbocking3397]

Great video

[@taxijohn]

We have an old Clematis (we have lived here 20yrs! and it was old when we moved in) It appears to be a type 2 it flowers early july onwards. It has been growing through ivy & honeysuckle. But some work by the landlord to remove the ivy has left a tangled mess in a heap on the floor!. It has about 3-4ft of dead looking stems with 2-3 ft of leaves & flowers. Can it be cut right back or will that simply kill it? it has lovely purple blooms & we would like to keep it if we can. Any advice would be welcome.

[@kenblackclematis8272]

Do you have any photos of the flowers?

[@kenblackclematis8272]

@@taxijohn I would love to see a photo of the flowers because I suspect it might be a type 3 in respect of pruning. There is little difference between the two and many type 2 clematis can be treated as type 3s. What I suggest you do is to play safe and cut half of the stems down to within 2 feet from the bottom but to leave the rest as they are. If, before the end of this year, you get new growth from the ones you have pruned or even new shoots from ground level you know it is safe to cut the rest down in the same way next Spring. Cut just above a pair of leaves each time. Good luck

[@taxijohn]

@@kenblackclematis8272 The flowers have taken a hit with the disturbance & the wind!! but here goes. Unfortunately i have no idea how to get photo's from my laptop album onto a reply to yourself. I will have to wait untill another family member comes over! But i will get back to you.

[@davenadainton4209]

Can you remind me of the feed you use please.. Fab video

[@kenblackclematis8272]

When I plant a clematis in the ground I use bone meal to help establish good root growth. As many of mine grow alongside and through roses they get the rose feed each spring. Ones in pots get a slow release fertiliser such as Miracle grow or Osmocote. For more information go to kenblackclematis.com and download the new chart I have written on growing clematis throughout the year. Glad you found the video helpful Ken

[@davenadainton4209]

@@kenblackclematis8272 thank you so much. I'm still struggling with the pruning of belly moser as it can flower twice I belive but only flowered late for me last year. Any suggestions please?

[@kenblackclematis8272]

@@davenadainton4209 I dont know where you live Davena but I think it is only in the South of England where Nelly flowers twice. not all large flowered hybrids do so or are treated that way. books and videos about clematis are often just guides. There is no substitute for getting to know your plants. Not all Nelly Mosers will be identical because of slightly different breeding, growing conditions and DNA. There is also a belief amongst some breeders and growers that there is really no difference between early and late large flowered hybrids. I have a Niobe, which like Nelly, is an early large flowered hybrid. I experimented with mine and hard pruned it one year rather than just tidied it up. The result was that it flowered 3 weeks later than it should but had many more flowers. So from then on I hard pruned it and it became magnificent but with only one flush of flower which lasted at least 3 weeks. I have another Niobe which did not respond as well to hard pruning. So, my suggestion is that you use written and video advice as just advice and experiment, getting to know your individual plants in the process. That to me is the joy of gardening in general and clematis growing in particular.

[@davenadainton4209]

@@kenblackclematis8272 thank you so much. I think I get scared to get it wrong. I'm in the Midlands in the UK. Nelly does look very spindly and scraggly so I'm tempted to give it a fair prune. If I have to lose the blooms this year then so be it. I have other clematis too. Thanks again for your patience and time

[@catherinejolicoeur4007]

Thank you for your extensive Information. Can you please share the name of the website with the clematis directory?

[@paulinegoundry2288]

I have a Warsaw nike. A lovely deep purple. This year it's very bare at the bottom but new shoots from the old wood all at the top nithingbatbtge bottom. What can I do for it plz

[@georgeanngamble8149]

Thank you so much I have a huge winter white clematis and wondering if new roots come up after pruning mine are so old looking yet the old stems produce leaves 🍃 help?

[@kenblackclematis8272]

Try pruning only one of the stems to see if new shoots emerge. if they do then you know it is ok to prune the others next year

[@shelly5596]

Brilliant 👏

[@kenblackclematis8272]

Thank you. I hope it was useful

[@herlindeclark5488]

Thank you so very much!

[@kenblackclematis8272]

hope the videos help

[@jenoxley5092]

hi Ken,bit of advice pls.My cuttings taken in april,have taken off well and are situated outside in a shady area of the garden in pots.Would you advise bringing them into the greenhouse overwinter as they are young and fragile still ?

[@kenblackclematis8272]

Hi Jen. Yes I would bring them inside to overwinter in case we have a particularly hard one. In general clematis are quite hardy and probably would have survived had you not had a greenhouse. Be careful not to water when they go dormant. I lost some last year because they were too damp. Good luck Ken

[@buipham123]

If it flowers before June, don’t prune! And hard prune for later bloomers. That should be easy, but it’s not! I’m confused still. Clematis on The Web says The Vagabond blooms in May-Jun, Aug-Oct; and Nelly Moser blooms May-Jun, Sep. So would both concepts apply here? Thank You!

[@kenblackclematis8272]

yes it would. there is a difference between light and hard pruning. anything that flowers before June don’t prune is straight forward. After that you do need to know which pruning category each variety is in and Clematis on the Web shows that. both the clematis you mention are early large flowered hybrids that require a light , not a hard prune so that they will flower in June. if you want them to flower again later in the year prune them again once they have flowered the forest time and they may flower again later in the year, depending on the weather. I know it is not straight forward but I prune some early large flowered hybrids quite hard to delay flowering by about 4 weeks. I can the get more flower but the plant will then not flower again that year. there is nothing wrong with experimenting and getting to know your plants

[@buipham123]

@@kenblackclematis8272 , thank you so much for your time. Thank you so much for your videos! I’ll wait until mid June or so to do a light prune on both.

[@helenaragon6539]

I went and pruned my Dr. Ruppel to the last bud I thought I killed it and did that 2 weeks ago and was so sad I didn't see this video in time but.....the good news is that this morning i found new baby shoots coming up from the ground around the main plant I never knew that clematis did that.....cool.

[@WW-qp5yd]

Hi Ken - I have a new group 2 clematis with a single stem, presumably young as only 3 or 4 pairs of leaves and about a foot or so tall… does this need any pruning before flowering (if it even flowers) ? Thanks

[@kenblackclematis8272]

yes I think that you should prune it to just above the second pair of leaves. every time that you prune in this way you get two more stems. ideally you should continue to do this with the new growth so the you end up with 6 stems before you let it continue until it flowers. I know many people cant wait to see their plant in flower, so are reluctant to prune it. however, a single stem plant is a weak plant. By creating a bushier plant through pruning you will have a much more vigorous clematis with lots more flowers. Good luck

[@WW-qp5yd]

Thank you very much for replying so promptly with great advice!

[@annemariefitzpatrick667]

What feed do you give to clematis?

[@kenblackclematis8272]

I use Osmocote slow release fertilizer

[@eileenstack255]

The ones I have to plant are Miss Bateman 🙋‍♀️

[@Docgoatcheese]

I'm seeing conflicting info on nubia. Some sources say it's group 2 and others say it's group three. Which is it?

[@kenblackclematis8272]

It is definitely group 3

[@jerryrogers903]

Thank u so much 😊

[@kenblackclematis8272]

Most welcome 😊

[@nildavidal202]

👍👏👏👏👏

[@eileenstack255]

Hi can I plant Clematis in small patch near gate entrance

[@kenblackclematis8272]

I’m afraid I can’t give you much of an answer without further information from you. If the patch has soil then a clematis should grow there as long as it is not too wet

[@arak501]

Thank you! 2/9/24

[@kenblackclematis8272]

Glad you found it useful

[@ЛарисаНовикова-с3ь]

Жалко что нет русского перевода интересное видео

[@fishing-gardening-travelling]

You are growing too much flowers 💐 You need to grow some chillies lol

[@helenawoolerton9685]

I have bought a General Sirkorski and Comtesse de Bouchard clematis and want plant in pots, all the information I’ve read has said you need large pots ie 500cm wide and deep, but I’ve noticed yours are not in big pots, can you tell me the best size to buy please, thank you

[@kenblackclematis8272]

Well you can use very large pots to permanently plant them in but then they have to stay there all year even when not in flower. By using plastic pots that are 10 litre plus and that fit inside a large ceramic or stone pot I can grow the clematis until they come into flower and then place them into the outer pots for their display, removing them when they have finished flowering and replacing them with something else that is beginning to flower, hopefully another clematis. A 10 litre pot is large enough to keep a clematis happy for about 4 years if it is fed regularly. After that it can be put in a larger pot, in the ground, or have the compost removed when dormant which is then replaced with fresh compost.

[@helenawoolerton9685]

@@kenblackclematis8272 thank you so much, that is really helpful.