Priorswood Clematis
Nursery on
“Everything you need to know about clematis”
On Thursday evening at the Manor Housr we
had a very enjoyable talk about growing and caring for clematis
plants by Gerald and Pauline from Priorswood Clematis Nursery.
Both Gerald and Pauline had worked at Priorswood for 32 years
until they retired and between them have a great deal of knowledge
on how to treat Clematis. The talk was well presented and
included a lot of participation in the form of question and
answers from the both presenter and audience.
A lot of the questions were about pruning
which when explained by the experts sounds easy. Clematis
plants fall roughly into two varieties for pruning; one type
grows first and flowers after 24th June on new wood and needs
to be hard pruned back to 9 inches above ground in December,
The others flower before 24th June on last years growth and
needs to be pruned after the flowers have finished.
When planting, clematis will need a large
planting hole, very deep and twice the width of the pot. Use
a mixture of good soil, compost and straw in the hole and
then set the plant 4 inches below the surface. They also will
need a good mulching in November and must always be kept moist.
If the plant is to be grown in a pot, use
one that is at least 18 – 24 inches deep and line the
inside with foil (shiny side out) and newspaper which will
help to keep the moisture in and the heat and cold out.
When asked for his favourite clematis Gerald
chose Pearl d`Azure, which is pruned back hard in the beginning
of December and can grow up to 12 feet in a season.
