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Clematis problem

nodlisabnodlisab Posts: 414

I have planted 2 clematis this year but they have both grown to about 3 feet tall with one single stem,how do I get them to branch out ?

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  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 3,277
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  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117

    Never experienced this but could it be that they need more light and are just trying to reach it?

    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 30,066

    Did you plant them deeper than they were in the pot?  This helps them produce more shoots from down below.  However, some clematis take a year or two to settle in and get going even after deep planting and they may well produce many more stems in coming years, especially if you feed  them well every spring.  Clematis are hungry plants.

    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
    Plato
  • nodlisabnodlisab Posts: 414

    thinking back maybe I didnt plant them deep enough,thanks for your help.

  • GillyLGillyL Posts: 1,077

    Deep planting and cool roots(,I put grit around the roots.),and patience,it will probably send out more shoots next year.

  • jad1jad1 Posts: 130

    I went to a gardening talk on Clematis by a local grower.

    Plant deep and keep the roots moist for the first year, The suggestion was to cut an old plastic bottle in half.Push it neck end down in the soil next to the plant. This provides a slow water dip  Also to feed with tomorite. 

     

  • BobTheGardenerBobTheGardener Posts: 11,384

    This is not unusual for newly planted clematis, especially if the plants were originally bought in small pots/large plugs.  The thing to remember with all new clematis (of any group) is to cut them back to about a foot (30cm) from the ground early in spring (usually end of Feb or early Mar), the year after planting.  That will encourage them to bush out and send up new shoots from below ground.  As others have said, it's always best to plant them 4-6" (10-15cm) deeper than the original soil level in the pot to encourage them to develop a 'root crown', from which they can send up more shoots.  It also protects the roots of large flowered varieties from being killed if they get clematis wilt.

    A trowel in the hand is worth a thousand lost under a bush.
  • jad1jad1 Posts: 130

    Good advice from Bob the gardener.

  • LynLyn Posts: 23,190

    I would cut it back to a foot now, you may lose sme flowers this year,but it will be better next.Maybe you didnt cut it back when you planted it, 

    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

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