Pat, the integrifolias are considered herbaceous clematis because they die back to the soil line each winter on their own. As a result, in the spring, there typically is no pruning required since they do their own pruning themselves. This is unlike most other clematis that can have their vines survive over the winter and start putting out foliage along the old vines. You can always pinch out the growing tips on the integridolias to help them bush out more but I have never really had to do that to mine.

If Prince Charles came up out of the soil with one stem this spring, I would pinch out the growing tip to encourage branching. You can repeat this on the side branches as they push out new stems to encourage further branching.

No one here has ever advocated keeping all new clematis pruned back severely the first season after planting in the ground. What has been advocated is that all types of clematis should be pruned back hard the second year they are in the ground as they start to emerge to encourage branching and to allow the plant to get its root system established.

Duchess of Albany is a great clematis and yours sounds as if it is off to a terrific start. One very vigorous clematis in my garden also!

Thanks for your good advice as usual, Miguel. I'm confused, though, about this paragraph:

"No one here has ever advocated keeping all new clematis pruned back severely the first season after planting in the ground. What has been advocated is that all types of clematis should be pruned back hard the second year they are in the ground as they start to emerge to encourage branching and to allow the plant to get its root system established."

I think I'm reading it wrong. You're not saying don't prune it back the first season, but do prune it back the second, are you? I thought that its first year you should pinch out all the growing tips (meaning you end up, hopefully, with a small, well branched but not blooming plant by fall) and the second year you should pinch out growing tips if the plant clearly hasn't branched out enough. Are we saying the same thing differently, or am I harboring a misconception?

And what about my two rapacious ones, Palette and DofA? The timing says pinch, but the look of the plant says (I think) enough already.

Looking forward!

Pat

Pat, yes I think we are on the same page. The first year you get the plant, whether you plant it in the ground or in a pot, you can pinch the growing tips out to help encourage branching and side shoots (this is not severe pruning, this is pinching out growing tips). The next year, assuming the plant is a type II or I, you prune it as a type III, removing the old wood and taking the plant down to several nodes from the ground level, even though doing so means you might not get any blooms. If it is a type III, you prune it as a type III. Then after the plant starts putting out its new vines, you can always pinch out growing tips to encourage more side branches. Pinching out growing tips can be done on any plant in any year. You aren't removing old wood by doing this, but just removing the main shoot so that side axillary buds will break and form new shoots.

As for your two vigorous ones which are type IIIs, then did you prune them back in the late winter/early spring. If so, then you are finished with what needs to be done. I still go around and pinch out growing tips on all my clematis as time allows however to promote side branching. My D of A was hard pruned in late December. That has not stopped me from going out at least twice now and pinching out growing tips to encourage side branching.

Hope this clarifies it! :0)

Hi,

Yes, I only have group III's, and, I'm happy to say, I've treated them as you have kindly instructed me to on this forum! So I think all is well (except for Prince Charles, who refuses to act his age), except I was a tad surprised that you're still pinching DofA when she's such a brute. But I will do it!

Pat

All Integrifolias don't die all the way down here, so I hard pruned all of them at ground level.

Oh, good!! I was wondering why I was the only one that didn't consider integrifolias herbaceous and now I see it is most likely one of those regional/climate-related things:-)) If I don't remove the old stems, they will sprout growth all along their length. Sometimes I do, which will result in new growth from the ground, othertimes not and just let them ramble at will. The only clematis that is truly herbaceous for me is C. recta.

Must be a zonal thing GG and BorS. One good thing though if yours don't die back, the stems can be covered with soil and the plants will likely layer and give you new plants that you can separate and plant in other areas of the garden.