Untangle Clematis Vines

Gardening Tips
Clematis

If you have been to the garden centre and chosen a gorgeous clematis vine you may need to know how to separate your new plant so that you can plant it and tie it to an espalier without damaging it. Separating a newly bought clematis is something that will only take around a half hour of your time, but if you need to replace a broken clematis trellis it may take longer or need a different approach.

Clematis plants are grown on bamboo canes so follow these easy steps:

  1. Removed the twist and tie.
  2. Gently open up the plant
  3. If you are going to put this onto a wall remove the bamboo stakes and then you can really start to work with your clematis
  4. If the stems are tangled you can untangle them – just be very gentle so that you don’t damage the vines. This video shows you how to do it.

 

Replacing A Broken Clematis Trellis

If you need to replace a broken clematis trellis what you’ll need to do depends on how entwined your clematis and trellis have become. Ideally, you can untangle the clematis while it’s dormant, then replace the trellis and tie the vine onto the new support.

Untangling a twining vine can be frustrating and time-consuming. If it’s too much of a headache, prune your plant as severely as necessary to remove it from the support. Do so while the plant is dormant.

Severe pruning may remove next year’s flowers if the clematis is a spring bloomer. But it should send out new shoots from the base that will bloom nicely the following year.

If the trellis has broken during the growing season, consider propping up the trellis with supplemental stakes or supports to get through the year until the proper pruning time.