Clematis: Invasive Russian Sage growing through my clematis, 1 by pirl

pirl wrote:
You're quite welcome. You're in for a bit of a struggle. Last year I planted a Russian Sage that a friend sent me and it took her and her strong son to even dig it up. It took a year to recover and still needs another year or two in order to look good.

The Proteus is the one you're out to save so chop away at the sage so you can unearth the clematis. I'd leave a hose running on low for a few hours before attempting the job. It will help loosen the roots of both plants but you will probably find it easier to hack away at the sage but then stop and lift the clematis. From there you will have to tease out the big roots of the sage. As I said, you're in for a struggle.

Read the only negative review for the Russian Sage on DG - it's interesting:
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/733

I couldn't locate photos of the roots but they are a mass of beige/white carrot like structures, much wider at the top near the crown, than below but still quite intense and teasing them out of the clematis will require a hand pruner and a lot of patience. You might want to protect the roots of the clematis with wet towels to keep them damp while you go through the procedure. Please let us all know how it worked out and take photos, if possible.

Thanks. We love him, too. He gets an A in charming!