Help with Design and use idea

20 years ago

Hi.. I am fairly new to clematis and I have a few. I am still learning and would appreciate any help. Such as a good book..

My question is.. HOw shoudl I use the clematis in my landscape design.. Here is my plan..

My husband has given me about 18" in depth and 100+' down the fence line that my neighbors put up. THe fence runs the length of our back yard and starts at the house and ends at the lake. It is East and west going. It gets all afternonon sun starting at about 2-3 ish. The south side is got some huge trees that have been across from the fence for years and the north is unobstructed.

Ok so hope that creates some picture..

My question now is.. I want to put as many of these beautiful clematis that I can get in this space.. How should I go about putting them in.. Do I, Group nthem by pruning type? That might leave gaps once bloomed.. Or do I mix them, but then how do you prune? My neighbor says that he prefers that I not grow them on his fence but that I use another structure/s to grow them because he doesn't want to wack them..

So again, what do I use that is not super expensive, adds height, my plants will climb, is eye pleasing as the climbers grow. My first thought was to use a double row of staggered height trellis. But as I look in my garden at the ones my husband bought me this year earlier, I see that the bars are too far apart and the clematis has shot up one of the iron bars and the others are empty (these are young clematis and hopefully will eventually fill out). But I want to create a show stopper. I was going to plant day lily in front of mixed colors to give the roots some shage and provide some color near the ground.

I would certainly appreciate any of your help, and please check out some of my garden work

http://s23.photobucket.com/albums/b351/llbean1113/

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Comments (4)

mehearty
20 years ago
I am way too new at clematis to help w/any of your questions but if I were going to plant different ones en mass I would do all different bloom times. An easy way to rememeber which are which would be to plant a Type 1 then a 2 then a 3 then another 1,2,3 ....etc. I think they all bloom at different times, right? So you can remember which type is which because (for instance) your type 3's would be in the 3rd, 6th & 9th spot. Don't know if that answers your question or not.

I also wanted to comment on your photos. You are very ambitious!! Your walkways are lovely, and I bet you'll have some beautiful gardens this summer. Good luck w/everything!
michael_in_chicago
20 years ago
It is much easier down the road to be able to trim or not trim clematis that grow together. Growing type 1/2's with type 3's will eventually be a pruning nightmare; trust me on this.
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jeanne_texas
20 years ago
Mike is right..Try to keep your Pruning groups together..and allow at least 2-3 feet between each one..your Viticellas/pruning type 3s are the easiest to grow..the pruning group 2s will bloom both Spring and late summer
leslie197
20 years ago
I run a couple dozen clematis along the edges of my yard against a metal fence line and also use quite a few over shrubs, up trellises, arbors, etc. The thing that works best for me with new ones is metal hardware cloth or chicken wire, mostly at the bottom, both as flat pieces where needed and as small cages. This gets them a good start up - doesn't look bad at all - since by the time it's warm enough to be outside here - the wire is mostly covered. Caging the bottoms with wire also stops the bunnies from eating all the new shoots in spring. Oh, and do keep the pruning group 2s away from the 3s - or you will regret it forever.

Hagley Hybrid

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Ernest Markham
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Alba luxurians (viticella)
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Betty Corning (viticella) - very young
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Etoile Violette (viticella) or Polish spirit (I forget which - have both, each on a corner of the house
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