Clematis pruning questions

6 years ago

last modified: 6 years ago

Hi Everyone,

I am relatively new to gardening; can you give me some guidance on pruning clematis?

I planted a "Sweet Summer Love" clematis last April. It bloomed from May to August and looked completely died during the winter --does it belong to "group 2" or "group 3", as suggested by this link?

The pruning guidance from that link differs quite a between the two. For group 2, pruning should be modest, i.e., " remove dead wood and cut the remaining stems 6 to 8 inches "; for group 3, pruning can be aggressive, i.e., " prune all stems back to a strong set of buds 12 inches from the ground."

Also is it okay to prune the clematis if there are new leaves which emerged a day or two ago?

Below is what the clematis looked like last June and today. Thanks so much for your help!

Featured Answer

gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)

6 years ago

That is not 'Sweet Summer Love'!! Not sure what it is but most likely a pruning group 2 based on bloom time. And for the first couple of seasons in the ground, all clematis - regardless of pruning group - should be hard pruned. This encourages better root development and additional stemming from the root crown.

And you can prune back group 2 and 3 clematis as often as you want....and pretty much as hard as you want :-) I used to work for a major west coast wholesale clematis grower and their vines would get pruned every few weeks just to keep the vines in check so they could be shipped easily without tangling. I have too many clematis of my own to be absolutely punctual about pruning times and often get to them well after they start to bud out. Won't hurt them a bit but may delay or reduce flowering. Usually not :-)

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (6)

callirhoe123
6 years ago
Just remove the brown, dead stems and it will regrow from the base.
ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
6 years ago
once the buds break.. you should very easily be able to tell what parts are viable.. and which are dead ...

and if you make a mistake or two and cut live ones ... dont worry about it ... it will either rebud lower ... or the roots will feed other stems ...

ken
Related Professionals
Westminster Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers · Oxford Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers · Idaho Falls Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers · Galveston Landscape Contractors · Wheeling Landscape Contractors · Amarillo Home Builders · Yuba City Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers · Jackson Landscape Contractors · Salt Lake City Landscape Contractors · Magog Landscape Contractors · Forrest City Tile and Stone Contractors · Chillicothe Tile and Stone Contractors · Martinsburg Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers · Salina Architects & Building Designers · Fort Dodge Architects & Building Designers
NHBabs z4b-5a NH
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
I agree with GG48 that your clematis in the first photo is not Sweet Summer Love. Compare to Rebecca, though there are other possibilities.

IME my Type 2 prune plants are often killed back to the snow line by Mother Nature, and they bloom just fine, just a bit delayed. So feel free to hard prune, just don’t wait a lot longer if you are going to hard prune. Otherwise, just remove anything that didn’t survive the winter, but you may not have as full a plant next year as if you had hard pruned this season.
NHBabs z4b-5a NH
6 years ago
PS, just so you know, Gardenweb/Houzz has a forum specifically for clematis.

Clematis Forum
Zone6 NewEnglander
Original Author
6 years ago
Thank you all for your comments! And you guys were right -- this clematis is actually Rebecca, not Sweet Summer Love; I must have misremembered it.