I have a clematis 'Beth Currie' that was put in last year. It is now flowering and I have info that says "Group 2 - Repeat bloomers; prune immediately after flowering." Can someone please define "prune" in this case. In other words where, how much, how far? Thank you.
Please define "prune"
marcha good question. really good question. prune really means taking out limbs or vines to create the structure for health and future vitality....however most of us gardeners use the term "prune" when we mean "cut back" to a lower level on the stem or vine.
all clems need to be cut back several times in first year or two of growth in our gardens to help develop more stems and stronger stems...establishing a good plant. there are usually only a few stems at this point so it is a matter of shearing or cutting back vs true pruning with a young clem.
a p 2 should be groomed as needed or desired after blooming to encourage healthy growth and leave old wood (vines) if possible for the following year, so that there is viable old wood to produce new next year growth. that said, many folks in climates with a hard winter find that pruning a p 2 back with a hard prune as you would most perennials results in a healthier plant, even if bloom time is s slightly later due to this. best practice in your zone would be taking old vines off in spring that are damaged on a p 2, or taking half of the undamaged vines off to ground level but leaving the rest of of them if un damaged for earlier blooms.
hope this makes sense, if not let me know.... you have a hard winter in zone 5 a , so sometimes there are so many damaged vines on a young p2 clem that you have no choice but to hard prune it as you would any perennial in your zone, and this is not a bad choice. when the choice is there, and there are lot of vines from the ground, true pruning is to take some down to ground level and leave some to grow on the old vines (wood)...
surely hope this is not confusing , it is from the heart and knowledge of a gardener in zone 5 b who specializes in clemsm but also recognizes there is a difference in the definition of pruning vs cutting back.
Thank you, ClematisGuru. Old vines produce new growth? Who knew? No doubt many people, but not me. My previous experience with clematis was with what I call the traditional purple kind (jackmanii?), before I knew there were so many types. We had one at our first home, which we cut back every fall as you would a perennial. Those brown vines sure looked dead and not very pretty to us. It came back gorgeous every year and the envy of all who saw it. We believed it was happy because it was planted next to the cement base of a screened porch. The roots could stay cool, but its head was in the sun. I have since read in garden catalogs about group 1, 2 and 3 and seen all the beautiful choices. Last year at this house, we put in the Beth Currie and one called "Polish Spirit," which is a group 3. Because they were new and I was not sure what to do, I waited until spring to cut them back. Of the two, "Polish Spirit" seems to be doing the best, but it does get more sun.
marcha, polish spirit is very vigorous and will outgrow most other clems in first couple of years. it is a clem that would be drug tested if clems were athletes, as it is like lance armstrong....amazing! flowers can be small first year or two, and i have noticed that and then that they kick in and get bigger every year. this is true to a certain extent of most clems but really more noticible on polish spirit to me.