Pruning early flowering (group one) Clematis

There is a belief that pruning Clematis is a rather complicated affair and requires skill and expertise. Certainly Clematis do not usually respond to indiscriminate hacking but a little bit of research and care will pay dividends.

Climbing clematis (there are some species that are herbaceous border plants) can generally fit into one of three groups.

Group one Clematis are  early flowering types that flower on previous seasons growth. They include Clematis montana, C.macropetala C.armandii, C.Alpina and C.cirrhosa. All group one Clematis require minimal pruning and do not respond well to regularly savagery. 

Cut back shoots that have grown too long, frost damaged and congested growth immediately after flowering. Really severe pruning can kill plants, I once managed to kill a specimen of Clematis montana by hard pruning but I was following my client's precise instructions! The sweetly scented Clematis armandii should never be hard pruned as it seldom recovers. Just remove frost damaged growths unless the plant needs reduction. If a really overgrown plant needs renovation, it may be worth doing this over two or three years taken out a selection of stems close to the base.

Newly planted specimens should be pruned back hard to encourage a framework of new shoots to create a balanced effect. 

Despite its vigour, the vigorous early flowering Clematis montana requires light pruning.