Quote from Guest on 2nd February 2022, 8:32 am
Hello MichelleD,
Tricky question, I will refer to the UK plants, first of all there are numerous types of Clematis and these bloom at different times of the year, you can get Clematis type one, two and three, these require slightly different pruning, if my memory serves me correctly some bloom on new growth some flower on old wood, some on both.
I would not even think about cutting back or pruning whilst snow or frost is about, I live in Kent, the South East UK so here the climate is equivalent to USA Zone 9, I don't have a clue where Iowa is, or what zone it is in, one can prune Clematis right back to near ground level, leaving about a foot or so as long as there are buds on the stems, and or cut back to a new bud from the top of a stem, , personally I just remove old dead wood, if your not sure what's dead and what isn't just lightly scrape the stem, if under the surface shows a soft green, it's good and alive, if the stem is hard brown and brittle, it's dead, remove it.
I would suggest asking your daughter, if she knows the name of her Clematis, does she know what "Climate Zone" Iowa is in? I Know that some plants in the US have the same names as ours in the UK, so we may be able to assist once we have names and zone, all I can suggest at the moment is, as the plant is going great guns, just tidy it up a little and enjoy the flowers.
Bob
Hello MichelleD,
Tricky question, I will refer to the UK plants, first of all there are numerous types of Clematis and these bloom at different times of the year, you can get Clematis type one, two and three, these require slightly different pruning, if my memory serves me correctly some bloom on new growth some flower on old wood, some on both.
I would not even think about cutting back or pruning whilst snow or frost is about, I live in Kent, the South East UK so here the climate is equivalent to USA Zone 9, I don't have a clue where Iowa is, or what zone it is in, one can prune Clematis right back to near ground level, leaving about a foot or so as long as there are buds on the stems, and or cut back to a new bud from the top of a stem, , personally I just remove old dead wood, if your not sure what's dead and what isn't just lightly scrape the stem, if under the surface shows a soft green, it's good and alive, if the stem is hard brown and brittle, it's dead, remove it.
I would suggest asking your daughter, if she knows the name of her Clematis, does she know what "Climate Zone" Iowa is in? I Know that some plants in the US have the same names as ours in the UK, so we may be able to assist once we have names and zone, all I can suggest at the moment is, as the plant is going great guns, just tidy it up a little and enjoy the flowers.
Bob
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