Re: Sweet Autumn Clematis in trouble

Nancy, if you got a reply to this, I missed it....so ignore.  If not, best
to wait until next spring (really early, just as buds are breaking) to
prune this Clematis.  In spring, you can cut it back practically to the
ground - best just beyond a breaking pair of buds.

If you cut them back hard now they will not bloom and may take exception to
the treatment and die on you...I did that once and lost one big one.  It's
probably hopeless to cut back only a few stems at this point since they are
no doubt attached to each other all the way up....

They will climb 15 to 20 feet or more, if permitted ,and get quite woody at
the base, but can and should be cut back in spring or you end up with this
incredible tangle of old, dead runners and new growth - a total mess.

I'd just let yours climb the strings - if they reach the end, they will
twine around each other and arch out.  If your string is strong and well
connected, it ought to hold for this year.

Or, you can get some of that heavy duty green plastic fencing sold at Home
Despot and other DIY stores and nail it to your garage with a 1x1 wooden
spacer behind it to hold it out from the garage wall.  SA Clematis love to
climb on this stuff.

Or, you can take your strings down and just let them hit the top of the
trellis and arch out and down....they won't mind this in the least..and
then cut them back next year.    They will grow on the ground, on shrubs,
on stumps, on walls, on anything, really...these are pretty tough plants.
Be aware that they do tend to seed about freely; once you have them, you
are not going to be without them:-)

I see no problem with 3 plants on a 12 ' wall - they will simply cover it
and that's probably what you had in mind.  You can move these in very early
spring with no problem.  I regularly dig them up from where they put
themselves and move them or give them away....have even done it as late as
June, but they don't like getting cut back hard then very much.

Marge Talt, zone 7 Maryland
mtalt@clark.net
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> From: Nancy S. Shlaes <nsshlaes@AMERITECH.NET>
> Date: Sunday, July 04, 1999 7:39 AM
>
> I have 3 beautiful, easy to grow sweet autumn clematis in their second
> year on a trellis on my garage wall.  The trellis is 6 plus feet but the
> cleamtis wants to keep on going---AND ITS ONLY JULY 1.
>
> This week I extended the trellis with sturdy strings held up by nails
> but foresee trouble ahead.  It is just too heavy.
>
> Should I:
>     (A)  cut in back--and if so, how much
>     (B)   cut some of its stems back to the ground -- which is pretty
> difficult to do with clematis--impossible I think
>     (C) any other suggestions.
>
> It is fall blooming and is not yet in bud.
>
> Second question.  Should I have planted 2 plants instead of three
> originally on my 12 foot wall, and should I remove one next year?
>     Many thanks for your help, nice people, h=and have a happy
> Independence day weekend
>
> Nancy Shlaes deGrazia
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