Need help with putting Clematis along fence.

12 years ago

Hello all. I am about to put a trellis along my fence in the flower bed I am making. It will be about 4-5 feet tall and 8 feet wide. Basically one whole section of the fence. I am not sure if I must get a clematis that only gets 5 ft tall or if I can get any clematis and train it to go horizontally. Also I am not sure how far apart to plant them. Does anyone have any ideas? I think I will plant some perennials in front on them. I only have one clematis right now and it is a Jackamanii. I just love it. It grows up the side of my house. I don't think I can get one that tall for the area I am looking at. Thanks for any help. I appreciate it. Also, can you train a clematis to grow horizontally or does it only want to grow upwards? BTW the area is on the West side of my yard and will get sun from the East for 6 hours or so a day.

This post was edited by suz9601 on Wed, Apr 2, 14 at 13:45

Featured Answer

wannabegardnr

12 years ago

It looks like the vines will be on the north side of the fence. If so, you may want to get ones that are more shade tolerant. But the experts here can comment on that. Maybe it won't be too much shade because there is nothing above them.

When they get to the end of their support and there's nothing more to climb up on, they'll spill over. So you'll get a wider more bushy look. There are many beautiful ones that are shorter, like 6 - 8ft. Don't go for the 10ft+ ones.

Also you could train the main vines horizontally by tying them. I have no experience doing that, so don't know how well that works.

I generally space anything with the mature width given, but many people grow clematis intertwined with one another.

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Comments (6)

suz9601
Original Author
12 years ago
Thanks Wannabe! The area will be on the west side of the yard and will get East sun 6 hours or so a day. Thanks for all the other info, I appreciate it.
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gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
12 years ago
Clematis can grow along the top of a fence line beautifully. And they do not need to be the shorter types. Clematis montana is one of the larger and more aggressive early blooming clems (30' plus) and it is often grown in this manner. To be honest, any clematis can be grown in this manner - it is just a matter of training.

Here is a link that might be useful: big clematis along a fence
gardenper
12 years ago
You have to be vigilant about training the vines horizontally but other than that, it should grow that way just fine. I mention that because if you let even just a few inches grow back to being vertical, just be careful as you bend it again.

Along my fence, I used those inexpensive nylon or twine netting materials that you can find for a few dollars (it is about 3' x 10' or 5' x 10'). I just hang it loosely on my fence line if there is a place for it, or a nail, and that holds up pretty well.

Some people do grow clematises close together, especially if they can get a good color combination working together. Just be cautious about the pruning type and growing them close together where they might intertwine together should be OK.

In the same link provided by gardengal, there is a picture of the 30' clematis being trained to grow horizontally along the fence. The material to latch on to looks similar to the kind I described on using.

This post was edited by gardenper on Thu, Apr 3, 14 at 15:26
iris_gal
12 years ago
These are short clematis. Max out at 5 feet.
They're from the Evipo Patio & Garden Collection or the Boulevard Collection.

Amethyst Beauty
Cezanne - I have this one. Lovely pastel periwinkle color.
Chantilly
Chevalier
Diana's Delight
Fleuri
OOH LA LA
Parisienne
Picardy
Reflections

Here is a link that might be useful: http://www.clematis.be/evison.html
Lilyfinch z9a Murrieta Ca
12 years ago
Suz, if you click on my page and look in my clippings , somewhere in there is a beautiful thread that shows how gorgeous Clem's cascade on a fence very similar to yours . I don't know how to link to something... But I hope you see it and it helps you ! :)