Clematis works well as a soil and pot climber, and the multitude of its varieties means that these plants can be used in almost any arrangement.Such diversity, however, means that cutting clematis is governed by different rules. This forced classifying clematis into 3 groups:
Group one
Strongly growing clematis: mountain and alpine clematis bloom in spring and form buds in the summer and autumn of the previous year. A late winter pruning would rob them of flowers.Therefore, we either do not shorten their shoots at all or trim them only in June, after flowering.
Second group
This group includes popular hybrids: 'Dr. Ruppel ',' Nelly Moser ',' H. F. Young ',' Mme Madame 'and' Le Coultre '. They bloom twice a year: in May or June on the short side shoots of last year, and then again from August on the long shoots of this year.These varieties are pruned at the turn of March
and April.
Third group
These are late flowering clematis from the multiflower group and varieties from the Viticella group.It is best to trim them strongly over 2-3 pairs of buds, 20-50 cm above the ground.
The most important thing is the grooming cut
Experts say that removing shoots is only 5 percent of the total cut. The rest of the time is spent observing and analyzing the appearance of the crown.The most commonly used is the so-called nursing pruning consisting in getting rid of sick, dead and tangled shoots.
