Clematis vines are, of course, some of my favorite flowering vines: they’re very easy to care for, and they produce absolutely amazing and varied flowers. One of the most common questions I get, though, is from readers who are confused about when to prune their particular Clematis. They know that pruning will help with the diminishing shows that some Clematis start to produce after a few years, but they find conflicting information on when to prune. This is because you need to prune your vine based on when it blooms. The simplest way to choose when to prune is this:
- If your Clematis blooms in the spring, then it is in Group 1. It sets blooms on the previous year’s growth, and needs to be pruned just after it finishes blooming for the year. These can usually be cut back very severely.
- If your Clematis blooms in the summer or fall, then it is in Group 2. These set blooms on new growth, and should be pruned either while dormant or just after coming out of dormancy. These can usually be cut back pretty severely
- If your Clematis is a repeat bloomer, then it is in Group 3. Determine which bloom season is most important to you (either based on the needs of your garden or the performance of your plant), and prune accordingly. Keep in mind that Group 3 Clematis vines do not recover from pruning as well, and thus shouldn’t be cut back anywhere near as drastically as those from the other groups.