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How and when to prune clematis


How to Prune Clematis | BBC Gardeners World Magazine

Clematis need to be pruned regularly to prevent them becoming a tangled mass of stems. Without pruning the plant will become bare at the base, with all of the flowers high up on the plant. Regular pruning encourages strong growth and flowering and keeps the plant within bounds.

But how and when to prune? Clematis are classified into three groups according to their pruning requirements, according to whether their flowers are produced on the previous year's growth or that of the current year.

All of the clematis listed on our Plant Database are listed with their pruning category.

If you're not sure what type of clematis you have, observe when it flowers. If it flowers before June, it will just need a light pruning; if it flowers after June it will need a harder prune in February.

Using the right tool is essential for this task - for more information read our guide to tools for pruning. If you're looking to update your kit, our experts have been busy testing the best secateurs, so you can buy with confidence.

In a hurry? Here are some of the best buys from this tests:

More advice on growing clematis:

Or you can follow our advice below.

Early flowering – Pruning Group One

Clematis armandii 'Snowdrift'

If your clematis flowers in winter or spring, it is in Pruning Group One. As a rule of thumb, if it flowers before June, don't prune. A Group One clematis needs little or no pruning – just give it a tidy after flowering. Remove any dead or damaged stems, and prune to fit the space you have. Tie in the stems to their supports and mulch. Read our Grow Guide to Group One clematis.

Types of clematis to prune this way: Clematis alpina, Clematis montana, Clematis armandii, Clematis napaulensis, Clematis macropetala and Clematis cirrhosa. Discover more Group One clematis to grow.

Large-flowered – Pruning Group Two

Clematis 'Cezanne'

If your clematis has large flowers in early summer, it is in Pruning Group Two. This too can be left unpruned, though deadheading immediately after flowering back to a bud below the spent flower may encourage further blooms. In late winter, remove dead or damaged stems and prune lightly – follow your way down from the top of each stem until you reach a healthy bud. Read our Grow Guide to Group Two clematis.

Clematis to prune this way: 'Cezanne' (pictured) and 'Niobe' and other large-flowered hybrids. Discover Group Two Clematis to grow.

Late flowering – Pruning Group Three

Clematis viticella 'Minuet'

If your clematis flowers later in the summer (in July or August) it is in Pruning Group Three. Simply prune in late winter, approximately 30-45cm from the ground, removing all the dead growth above. Cut back to just above a healthy new bud. With a vigorous plant, you can leave one or two stems unpruned so that you get flowers at different heights. Read our Grow Guide to Group Three clematis.

Clematis to prune this way: Clematis viticella, Clematis jackmanii, Clematis tangutica and Clematis texensis. Discover more Group Three clematis to grow.

How and When to Prune Clematis Vines

By

Jonathan Landsman

Jonathan Landsman

Jonathan Landsman is a professional horticulturist and former city planner for the NYC Department of Parks & Recreation. While writing for The Spruce, he covered pruning and grafting trees and shrubs. Jonathan earned a master's degree in horticulture at Cornell University and was a full scholarship fellow of the Cornell Plantations Public Garden Leadership program. He is an instructor at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden on Plant Identification and Botany.

Learn more about The Spruce's Editorial Process

Updated on 06/23/22

The Spruce / Adelyn Duchala

Project Overview

Clematis is a genus of climbing vines popular in gardens for their very showy flowers and attractive, whirlwind-like seed clusters shortly after. Since the flowers are the most important aspect of these plants, their bloom time dictates when and how to prune clematis.

Once you know a little about your own plant, this step-by-step guide will help you through the pruning process of your specific variety.

Tip

Clematis is the scientific name and the most common name for this group of plants, but some of the old and popular species are also called traveler’s joy, virgin’s bower, and old man’s beard.

When to Prune Clematis

Flowers are the most important impact of clematis, so keeping them blooming strong every year is the main goal for pruning clematis. Know when your clematis blooms.

If you just planted your clematis, you might consider sacrificing green growth and flowers in exchange for root growth that makes a strong plant in the long term. Ruth Gooch, the author of "Clematis The Complete Guide," suggests hard pruning all one- to three-year-old clematis down to the second set of strong buds above ground level.

This method will sacrifice most of the flowers if the plant is a spring-bloomer. This is worth it if you can wait for flowers, but maybe you can compromise with your plant: You might try cutting down nearly all of your vine as Ruth suggests, but leaving a few trained canes up until they flower.

Equipment / Tools

Materials

In pruning clematis, your overall goal is to create a plant that will flower strongly each year at various heights from ground level to a comfortable height where you can enjoy and reach the plant for maintenance. By pruning, you control the size, keep the plant trained to its armature, and create the space for new growth to replace old wood.

The Spruce / Adelyn Duchala

  1. Choose Your Size

    Start by deciding what size you want your plant to eventually be at maturity. This is probably determined by the size of your armature, but keep in mind that you want to be able to reach the top to prune and train it. Are you willing to climb a ladder?

    The Spruce / Adelyn Duchala

  2. Prune for Your Variety

    Continue your pruning by noting your variety of clematis, when it will bloom, and if it will develop wood. At the right time of year, cut back late bloomers to the ground and matured spring bloomers to their original framework of tidy, strong, trained stems.

    If it’s a woody clematis, select old canes to cut back all the way to the ground, stimulating strong new growth, a textured look, and exposing all levels of the plant to light and new growth.

    Tip

    If you can’t figure out when to prune because you don’t know when the plant flowers, prune hard just what you need to to keep the size reasonable and let the rest go for a year.

    The Spruce / Adelyn Duchala

  3. Consider Deadheading

    Deadheading sends energy to create more flowers but prevents the whirlwind-like seedheads from forming.

    The Spruce / Adelyn Duchala

  4. Train the Vines

    Clematis are fast growers that cannot support themselves. If you don’t want them scrambling across the ground and nearby shrubs, you must provide an armature such as a trellis or arbor. Make sure your armature is strongly built, perhaps anchored to a wall. Expect to have to tie your clematis to it, or at least periodically wrap the plant to the structure by hand. Don’t expect a wall alone to provide support: unlike ivy, clematis cannot cling to a bare vertical surface.

    If you want a more informal look, you certainly can try letting your vines scramble on the ground or perhaps on a nearby standing dead shrub. You may work harder to control the display, and you may need a lot more space than if you just dedicated a trellis to the cause. But it’s your garden—your rules.

    The Spruce / Adelyn Duchala

Common Mistakes in Pruning Clematis

Too afraid to prune: If you never prune your clematis because you are afraid you’ll do wrong. ..well, don’t be. If you ignore any vine it will fast become a weed, and clematis is too special to be weeds. Neglected clematis grow tall and bear flowers too high to see, or scramble all around, shade themselves, and bear flowers sparsely. You can do better.

Pruning hard at the wrong time: If you prune a little, it’s okay to prune at the wrong time. If you prune at the right time, it’s okay to prune a lot (“hard”). But if you prune hard at the wrong time, especially if you are shearing off the whole outside of the plant (a bad technique), you won’t see any blooms that year.

How to Grow Clematis 'The President'

Instructions and methods for pruning clematis for the winter for good branching

Pruning clematis in groups ... Increasingly, a simplified pruning system has become used, according to which all species and varieties belong to one of the groups, depending on the characteristics of laying generative buds on past or current shoots of the year. If the packaging of the acquired species or variety indicates the clematis pruning group and the winter hardiness zone, then there is no need to specify which group the plant should be assigned to, since in this case there is already enough information to choose the right care program. nine0003

Pruning clematis promotes good branching and abundant flowering. Sanitary pruning can be carried out throughout the season, regularly removing dried and broken shoots.

There are 3 ways (groups) of pruning clematis for the winter.

(1) first pruning group (without pruning) (Jeanne D'Arc, Lavsoniana Henry, etc.)
Clematis that bloom only on old shoots in spring are not pruned at all, except for the formative ones. If this is necessary due to excessive growth, they are cut after flowering at a height of at least 1 m. Weak and non-lignified shoots are cut out for the winter. nine0003

(2) second pruning group (light pruning) (Ideal, Multi Blue, Nadezhda, etc. )
This group includes most large-flowered varieties (Lanuginosa, some varieties of the Patens and Florida groups), especially those that start flowering on last year's shoots in May-June, and then repeat on this year's shoots. In plants at the age of 1 year, all shoots are pruned at a height of about 30 cm. In plants older than two years, all shoots are cut at a height of 1.5 m. Keeping long shoots (with weak pruning), we get early and abundant flowering. nine0003

(3) third pruning group (heavy pruning) summer-flowering (Purpurea Plena Elegance, Rouge Cardinal, Ruitel, Blue Flame, Hegley Hybrid, etc.) (15-20 cm from ground level), as the flowers appear next summer on young shoots. When pruned to 50 cm, flowering will be two weeks earlier.

Pruning must be done with a sharp pruner: an oblique cut is made 5-7 mm above the kidneys (water does not linger on such a cut). And pruning the next bush only after disinfecting the secateurs. nine0003

To increase the number of branched shoots in the second year, you can apply pinching at the beginning of the growth of seedlings.

For pruning groups I-II: the first pinching is carried out at a height of 20-30 cm above the ground, the second after the growth of shoots, at a height of 50-70 cm and the last one is performed at a height of 100-150 cm.

For pruning group III: the first pinching is carried out at a height of 10-15 cm above the ground, the second after the growth of shoots, at a height of 20-30 cm and the last is performed at a height of 40-50 cm. As a result of such pinching, a well-developed plant is obtained. nine0003

How to make clematis bloom from spring to late autumn? Sometimes it is difficult to remember which group a particular clematis belongs to, especially if there are a lot of them. In addition, traditional pruning involves the flowering of a large number of flowers at the same time. And the more flowers on the plant, the smaller they are. In this case, there may not be a second flowering, the plant spends a lot of energy on the first flowering, and if even with poor care (lack of watering, top dressing, etc. ). But you want clematis to bloom as long as possible, preferably all summer and autumn. Therefore, experienced gardeners prune their clematis differently, using combined pruning. nine0003

Combined pruning allows you to gradually rejuvenate clematis. The secret of the youth of the liana is simple: with combined pruning "to zero", you need to cut off branches older than three years, and then young shoots will come out of them. And the stems of a younger age are shortened in a sparing mode. The result is double, even triple flowering, which begins on the shoots of last year, that is, on those stems where they cut less, then flowers on young branches that have been shortened almost to the ground come to replace. nine0003

Regardless of which group the clematis belong to, they can be cut in the same way in autumn: in three tiers. Several shoots (3-4) are cut at a height of about 1 m from the ground, a few more (also 3-4) at a height of 0.5 m from the ground, and a few more (also 3-4) at 2-3 buds from the ground. All others are cut out completely. Then these left vines are carefully laid on the ground and covered with the onset of cold weather (usually with foliage or dry grass).

Short-cut plants usually need a dry hilling with mulch or vegetable soil. Hilling is carried out to a height of 10-15 cm. After that, the plants are covered with a box and covered with peat, sawdust or dry leaves on top. And from above it is desirable to cover the box with plastic wrap, leaving holes for ventilation from the sides. In this form, clematis winter well. nine0003

In early spring, they should be released from their shelter and tied to a support. Now, due to the fact that the vines were cut not equally, but at different heights, they will not bloom at the same time, which means that the flowers will be larger, and they will be located not only at the top of the bush, but along its entire height.

After the first vines (the longest ones) have faded (usually early June), they are cut 2-3 buds from the ground and used for propagation (cut cuttings from them and root). The remaining vines continue to bloom, and the pruned ones begin to grow rapidly, and bloom again by the end of summer. In the meantime, the following vines should be cut to the same height (2-3 buds from the ground) and used again for propagation, etc. Such pruning can be done before August, but not later, otherwise the vines will not have time to grow before winter and become well woody. nine0003

The result is an almost continuous flowering from spring to late autumn, the bush is thinned regularly during the summer, does not thicken, feels great, so it blooms as large flowers as it can. Of course, subject to good care: watering, fertilizing, mulching, etc.

Without pruning, most clematis form a tangled mass of shoots and flower on top of bare, woody stems. Therefore, the goal of most pruning methods is to provide maximum surface coverage and produce flowers at a given height. nine0003

Pruning is also necessary when planting but is often forgotten. Many clematis, especially with large flowers, grow rapidly upwards in the first year due to the stem alone. Therefore, when planting, you need to cut the stem to the lower pair of strong buds in order to further stimulate the formation of basal shoots. Shoots from these buds can be pinched back to increase the number of shoots from the bottom of the plant; but usually this is not necessary. This initial pruning is needed for all clematis. nine0003

They are usually planted at rest, in early spring, or during active sap flow, in spring - early summer. Most clematis species have good branching ability and form dense bushy plants. For this, plants must be cut off when planting.

After the first year of vegetation, it is desirable to prune very strongly, cutting off the shoots to the first bud above the ground. Such hard pruning in spring stimulates the growth of new shoots from dormant root buds..

When to prune clematis in autumn - step by step tips for each clematis pruning group.

Clematis is a magnificent climbing perennial flower in shades of lilac, blue, pink and white. To save clematis and enjoy flowering next summer, we will share tips on when to prune clematis for the winter and how best to do it. This question causes confusion for many. For this wonderful decoration of the garden plot, you need pruning clematis for the winter and shelter. nine0003

Modern flower growers believe that it is possible to grow clematis without shelter for the winter with deep planting. The main thing is the correct agricultural technology, in which the flowers ripen perfectly, harden and winter well even under a small light shelter. As practice has shown, clematis winter well, growing near the walls of the house and protected from the winds.

The main task is to keep the tillering center, then the plant renews and blooms beautifully every year.

At a temperature of about 0 °C, the nutrients from the leaves and the upper part of the shoots pass into the buds, so do not rush to cut the leaves and shoots early in the fall. When the temperature drops to -2 ... -5 ° C, the water content in the cells decreases, the activity of physiological processes decreases, which is typical for the dormant period. If climatic conditions are favorable for hardening before winter, then wintering of clematis goes well. nine0003

In order to preserve nutrients in plants for the winter, it is desirable to stop flowering and growth in late autumn. To do this, in a timely manner, even during the growing season, proper care is needed in the fall:

If you have any doubts - do you need to prune clematis for the winter? It is necessary!

When to cut clematis in autumn, dates:

Pruning clematis for the winter

Pruning clematis depending on the clematis pruning group. The time when to prune clematis for the winter also depends on the pruning group. If it is unknown, then it is best to prune in mid-August at a height of 40-60 cm. Such pruning of clematis in the fall helps to get rid of fungal diseases. Be sure to remove old leaves, dead and diseased parts of plants.

If you know the clematis pruning group, then clematis pruning in autumn follows the following scheme:

How to prune clematis for the winter of the first year of life

In the first year after planting, all types of clematis are pruned in the same way. Leave a shoot about 30 cm high, and cut off everything else. Such autumn pruning encourages the plant to branch and provokes the appearance of side shoots.

Pruning of clematis of the first group for the winter

The first group of pruning includes clematis that bloom in spring and form buds on last year's shoots. Everything is simple with them - pruning can be done both immediately after flowering, and closer to winter. You need to cut off the top 20 cm of the shoot, adjusting the plant to the height of the support, leaving creepers up to 2 m long. In addition, sanitary pruning should be carried out every 2-3 years, preventing the plant from thickening and removing dry or diseased stems. nine0003

Pruning of clematis of the second group for the winter

The second pruning group includes clematis that bloom on last year's shoots. Such plants are pruned, leaving shoots 120-150 cm high, and dried branches are also regularly removed.

Pruning clematis of the third group for the winter

Clematis of the third pruning group bloom only on young shoots, which can grow 2-3 m in a season. Old shoots are not needed, and they can be cut to a height of 20-30 cm . nine0003

A universal way to cut clematis in autumn

If you got clematis as adults, and in the fall it turned out that you don’t know which group they belong to, perform one of the universal pruning options for clematis for the winter.

  1. Divide the lashes of the bush into 3 groups: cut the first short, the second at a height of a meter, and shorten the third just a little and next year see where the flowering will be better.

    Learn more