During the growing season, clematis can be a little over-enthusiastic and it may be necessary to re-shape plants during the Summer. August is a good time to do this, and our guide below shows you how!
In the picture on the left you can see that our clematis has grown nicely up its support on the left-hand side, but is flopping over out of control on the right-hand side.
Select each over-grown shoot and cut back to a leaf node, as Marcus is demonstrating in the middle picture.
Carefully work around the plant to regain control, which will result in a nice, tidy clematis contained within its growing area, as shown in the picture on the right.
Summer shaping is different to general pruning, which really is as easy as one, two, three… because all clematis fall into one of three groups.
Group 1 – such as Clematis Armandii – need the least attention with little or no pruning required, simply remove damaged, dead or diseased stems after flowering.
Group 2 – such as Clematis Nelly Moser – flower in the Summer from shoots which grow from a framework provided by last season’s growth and need pruning after flowering.
Group 3 – such as Clematis Viticella – flower from the current season’s growth and need pruning back to just above ground level in early Spring.
