Clematis plants is climbing vine that will grow and produce flower for you; the method that you use to prune your clematis plants will determine the time of year that your clematis plants will bloom. Clematis plants are categorized into three different group, each of which produces there flower buds in slightly different ways. As a result, each of the three groups require a different pruning schedule for there blooms to occur.
The first group of clematis plants will produce there flowers on what is referred to as old wood; old wood refers to the stem that grew during the previous growing season. These plants will set their flower buds during the previous summer, so you should not prune them during the spring season. If you do prune these plants during the spring, you will remove the flower buds that the plants will need to produce there flowers.
How to Prune Clematis Plants
You should prune these plants only after they bloom during the early summer; you can prune the plants to remove dead stem from the plants and to tidy the look of the clematis plants after they have bloomed. The second group of clematis plants will produce there flowers on both old and new wood. These plants will produce a large bloom during the early summer with there old wood, and will produce a second and smaller bloom during the late summer with there new wood.
Therefore, you should only prune these clematis plants during the early spring season to remove the dead stems to there strong buds. This allows them to retain enough old wood stems to provide enough blossom during the early summer blooms, as well as to allow for enough new growth to produce there late summer blossoms. Additionally, you can prune these plants during midsummer to remove any dead bloom to encourage the development of the late summer blooms.
The third group of clematis plants will only produce flowers on there new wood. Therefore, you can prune these clematis plants heavy during the late winter season. During this time, the stems of the plants should be pruned back to approximately one foot from the base of the plant.
The advantage of this type of clematis plant is that they will grow quick from the base of the plant after being pruned. In order to prune clematis plants, you must use the correct tools for the task. The tools should be sharp; using blunt tools will damage the stems of the plants and potentially lead to the development of rot in the stems of those plants.
Use bypass secateurs for stems that are less than half an inch in thickness. Use loppers for stems that are thicker than a half inch in diameter. Additionally, disinfect the pruning tools between each plant to avoid the spread of any disease from one plant to the other.
To properly prune your clematis plants, follow these five step: First, identify the group of clematis plants that you have by reading the plant tag or by observing when it blooms. Second, find the healthy bud on the plant. Third, trim the stems at a 45-degree angle with the healthy buds.
Fourth, remove all of the dead material from the plant. Fifth, fan out the remaining stems of the plants and tie the stems loose to the support structure using twine. Finally, apply mulch and fertilizer to the base of the plant to encourage it’s continued growth.
Many people makes mistakes when attempting to prune there clematis plants. One of the most common mistake is to prune the Group 1 clematis plants at the wrong time of year, which prevents them from flowering. Other mistake include using dull pruning tools that damage the health of the plants.
Other people will fail to support the stems of there clematis plants, which may lead to the wind snapping the stems. Finally, another mistake people make is to prune there clematis plants during a frost, which may damage the fresh cut made to there stems. In order to improve the success of there clematis plants, many people should of plant there clematis plants deep into the soil.
The crown of the clematis plants should be planted about three inches below the soil. This allows for the plant to have a backup root system in case the plant become infected with wilt, which is a fungal infection of the stems of the clematis plants that causes them to wilt. Additionally, you should keep the roots of the clematis plants cool and moist with mulch; the roots of the plants enjoy staying cool while the tops of the plants are exposed to the sun.