Starting new clem

I purchased Comtesse du Bouchaud a couple of years ago. I did purchase and plant her before I knew that she needed to be planted an inch or two below the pot level, so I did not do that when she was planted. She never really gets very bushy - this was her 3rd year last year.

I am thinking seriously of only cutting her back part way this Spring and burying the nodes of the uncut stems in the dirt with the hopes of rooting these stems. I was thinking that I could produce a plant that looked fuller and bushier. Will this work?

yes. cut the rim off a 12 inch nursery pot about 4 inches deep. partially bury the rim around the plant. you may have to cut it open , then re-staple it into the circle if you can't get it over the plant.

fill the rim with ammended soil and prune the plant back to one or tow "nodes" from the ground.

you will have effectively planted it deeper with this method and the combo of this with the planting will
encourage new shoots and a healthier more vigorous plant. here is a photo,with a younger plant with one of the "clematis collars" as i call them. i have them on all of my clems. it helps keep soil in place and stop erosion of the soil around the plant. also if they heave in the winter there is more soil to protect the roots.

sorry i do not have a photo of a collar aroud a matrue plant, but i have them on all of my plants. you can also make a collar out of rocks, which i used to do, but the nursery pot collars work better.

PS i changed my user name from niobe to cGematisguru.

yes. cut the rim off a 12 inch nursery pot about 4 inches deep. partially bury the rim around the plant. you may have to cut it open , then re-staple it into the circle if you can't get it over the plant.

fill the rim with ammended soil and prune the plant back to one or tow "nodes" from the ground.

you will have effectively planted it deeper with this method and the combo of this with the planting will
encourage new shoots and a healthier more vigorous plant. here is a photo,with a younger plant with one of the "clematis collars" as i call them. i have them on all of my clems. it helps keep soil in place and stop erosion of the soil around the plant. also if they heave in the winter there is more soil to protect the roots.

sorry i do not have a photo of a collar around a mature plant, but i have them on all of my plants. you can also make a collar out of rocks, which i used to do, but the nursery pot collars work better to hold the soil in.

PS i changed my user name from niobe to Clematisguru.

CG - (I still want to call you niobe!). What a great idea! I am going to do that with all of them.. Thank you so much!

Carolyn

Carol..I topdress my flowerbeds each Spring with a couple inches of composted cowmanure and then top that with a couple inches of mulch..that always ensure my clematis not only stay moist and well buried but also gives my worms some lovely goodies to till into my flowerbeds producing loverly nutrients and rich rich soil..Clematis "Comtesse de Bouchard" is a pruning group 3..blooming on NEW vines grown during the season..so they should be hard pruned..NOT half back as you'll not have any blooms on the bottom..JMHO...Jeanne

Jeanne -

Thanks. Good to see you back.

jeanne, i never use manure,(altho it is in the "bumper crop" master gardener top dressing i have used for a few years) but am going to use some this spring. the big issue for me is aggressive watering ( guilty as charged) pushing ammended soil and soil line in general away from the clematis plants.
the collars allow me to keep that soil line built up. and when i am fearful a compost or something i am using is not completely aged enough i place it on the outside of the collar.
because i have never used aged manure before as a straight ingredient, i will place it on the outside of the collar to enrich the whole area versus taking a chance of burning stems.

the "bumper crop" i have used is very costly and my garden center no longer carries so this will be a good decision for me and will probably increase results based on your experience.

Why the name change Niobe? Just curious....it is going to be hard to call you something else now LOL I was so used to it LOL.

Carolyn..thanks so much hon..I've truly missed all my online clematis friends as well~!..Niobe..yup..I'm like Dawn and will not be able to ever think of you as anyone but that infamous Clematis "Niobe"..If you are afraid of composted cowmanure you can always use just compost..but I have mine delivered and spread by a local nursery whom I have total faith in..it really is easy to determine which is not aged so as not to burn your plants...truly aged Cowmanure has that wonderful earthy soil smell..not like poo-poo at all and easily will mound into a ball in your hands and fall apart easily..ie crumbly,colouring is black/brown..not aged is really black and smelly...I enjoyed "touring" my local nurseries to smell and feel their composted cowmanure until I found just the one that I get now..I call it Texas Gold... what is wonderful about this regime is that last years old mulch and composted cowmanure will be "UNDER" the new composted cowmanure and mulch and is already rotting and turning into wonderful organics for my worms and flowers...it's my insurance for my plants..I also have worms in my huge pots that my clematis are in and I topdress them the same way..just typing this is making me wanna order it now..but I've got to get out and weed first...yuck..Jeanne

jeanne, the reason i changed my username here on daves garden is that i started using twitter and on twitter i set up the user name clematarian. i had a pic of my dog daisy asleep on my twitter signature. anyway long story short my daughter told me that the pic of my dog looked like she was dead and the name clemetarian sounded like cemetary.
with that feedback, i had to change my twitter username so i decided change daves garden too. PS much easier to change username on twitter than daves garden. i had to e mail and "ask" and was told i could only do it once. and twitter is free. whatever.

i am def doing a big layer of the composted manure this spring, will have it brought too vs bags i am sure. because i have never done this i will place it outside the collars and take extra care it does not touch stems of plants. (yes i have had some big mistakes in the past with rotting my own stems with my own yard compost or other products.)

i am expecting good things from doing this. the NIAS and Bumper Crop i have used extensively for several years do have manure as an ingredient, but this should be a good overall boost for the garden and nearby shrubs etc. i will thing of you while i am spreading it.

and i don't mind being called niobe at all.

Good cause I might call you Niobe until I get used to Clematisguru LOL!!

Jeanne I'm a novice when it comes to clematis and only have a few mature plants and normally just add a layer of mulch so I'm going to also use COMPOSTED manure this year but have questions.,
When you add the composted manure and mulch do you keep a few inches away from the plant?
Just wanting to make sure I do the right thing because I don't want to get the manure and mulch too deep over the roots.

Thanks,
Bonnie

hopefully, our manure expert will weigh in here. i am just paranoid with the stems of clem and things still in the rotting phase......if a mistake can have been made, i have made it for sure. over the years i've killed and wilted many a plant.but i am looking forward to my manure adventure thanks to jeanne's motivation.

YEAH, Jeanne's back! We missed you girl!

"ClematisGuru" is still "niobe" to us!

What was the question? Oh yeah, don't dig up your Clematis. Just had a couple inches of compost, manure & shredded mulch and that will give more depth for the Clematis roots. Not to worry, we've all come across this problem in the past.

i have to constantly build up the soil around the base of my clems. erosion from agressive watering and some of mine are planted on sloping berms which does not help. that is why i use the collars to help me keep the soil level up.
sometimes in winter too there can be heaving form freezing and unfreezing which we get in my area ,so you want o make sure it is deep enough the heaving doesn't expose roots.

can't wait for spring and to share photos and learning with you guys..please feel free to call me niobe at any time.

CG and Shirley.

Thanks, I appreciate the help on this. I really like CDB, I just wish she was fuller. I am going to put a 'collar' on her and some of my others. I just wish the ground would thaw!

don't know how old your CDB is, but the first few years with clems are really boring. i don't know how i made it thru the first years, keeping motivated with reading, buying more and the mary toomey lectures.
if i added up my failures with clems as i learned a bit, well, then i would know i was looney. just keep on and always go for a heathy plant vs a few blooms. i am relentless on a spindly, browned off plant no mater what time of year. fix the plant and eventually the years and health will create more joy and blooms and fullness than you are even envisioning.
so by all means referencing your initial question, cut her back and build that soil up.
cdb is so pretty well worth any struggle.
this is a CDB that has been in 3 years. pic from 08.

i just looked closely at the photo and it reminded me of CBD trait. i always get a lot of brown off after blooming , not wilt, just plant that needs a rest. so mine does get a lot of pruning, as i won;t look at the burnt up plant for months and months. i have a couple of them, and it is not a plant for me that has constant vigor.
get some larger flowered vitacella like margaret hunt that will non stop show stop with blooms from year 2 if bought from silver start.

also a tie dye has been one of my best bloomers in second year that i could imagine. and a blue angel and betty corning will blow your mind in year 3.non stop.

Bonnie..I always pull my mulch just a tad bit away from the vines after laying it because the mulch will hold the moisture for a time..this is good because you don't want to invite diseases...I've never really been particular about keeping the compost or composted cowmanure away from the vines as it dries out quickly. Niobe, if your composted cowmanure is well rotted ..that is something you don't have to worry about..
Shirl..he girl..GLAD to be back..what a winter I had...was sick for 2+ weeks and then my internet was out for sometime...
I have to concur with Niobe..My Tie Dye was a winner from day one..it is one pruning group three that seems to "Leap" the first year I planted it and a blooming fool..
Carolyn..my CDB is such a joy...hard pruning her year after year has caused her to send many new shoots from the soil..she is 6 years old this year and can't wait to see her do her thang....Hugzzz everyone...Jeanne
Here is my "Tie-Dye" from last year..I hard prune when she has finished her 1st flush and can easily get three bloom periods from her in a season