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Clematis trimming/pruning #889048

Asked October 30, 2024, 1:39 PM EDT

I have a existing clematis. I believe the variety is called “ President .. it has been in the ground for over 10 years. I fertilized it this spring with hone. After trimming it to about 3 feet off the ground. The growth went crazy. I probably have an additional 4-5 feet. The additional growth has nowhere to go so his flopping on the iron fence it has been growing on for years. Is it all right to trim/prune the additional growth in the fall /now …. Before winter? Or should I wait until spring. I have sent two pictures. Ignore the fuchsia clematis picture. The picture with the purple flower is picture of the president clematis taken seven years ago.

Kent County Michigan

Expert Response

Hello John-

Your clematis is beautiful!

“The President” clematis are known to quickly grow to 6-10 feet, and they love a trellis. They can be one of the most challenging to prune because they flower on both old and new wood (Group 2). The old wood blooms have the heaviest flush of flowers in the spring, and a lighter flush on new wood in the late summer.

Ideally you want to prune in late winter/early spring, and then again after the first flush of blooms.

The key to pruning Group 2, is to do it lightly.

The only reason to be more aggressive with your pruning is if the plant is straggly or out of control. If you are concerned about the size of the plant, you could leave it alone until late winter/early spring, then cut the last seasons growth to the ground level (you cannot kill a clematis by pruning it). This will produce new shoots from the base. Your plant will be shorter, have a few less flowers that will appear a little later. Then, do not hard prune after this first flush to insure beautiful spring blooms the next year. After adjusting the height of your plant in this manner, you could return to a less aggressive pruning method.

I have attached a few articles that talk about pruning methods for Group 2 clematis. Hope they help.

https://cmg.extension.colostate.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/44/2019/05/May-11-2019-Pruning-Clematis.pdf

https://www.udel.edu/academics/colleges/canr/cooperative-extension/fact-sheets/clematis/

https://clark.osu.edu/sites/clark/files/imce/Program_Pages/ANR/Horticuture/HomeGardenArticles/2016/July232016.pdf

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