says...
> Brian Robertson wrote:
> > Just moved into a new house and there is a small - big enough to sit out
> > with a plastic garden table and chairs - balcony outside our bedroom.
> > The sides of the balcony are covered by a Clematis which is growing from
> > ground level and has a trunk as thick as a small tree. It had overflowed
> > onto the balcony and had actually covered a small conifer growing there
> > to the extent that we only noticed it's tip poking out from the Clematis
> > several days after we had moved in!
> >
> > I have liberated the conifer to the patio and cut the Clematis back from
> > where it was overflowing onto the balcony - including where it seemed to
> > be growing behind the gutter and into the roof - it is still 95% as it
> > was. I would like to seriously prune it back, but how brutal can I be
> > without killing it and when? The house is rented and the landlord might
> > object if we start killing his plants off.
> >
> > Brian and Sue.
>
> PS It seems to be just coming to the end of its flowering.
>
> Brian and Sue.
>
Sounds like a montana type, now is a good time to prune them and
generally you will do no harm if you stick to a pair of secateurs,
anything they will go through is fair game, it will look a terrible mess
for a while but will quickly regrow and by doing it now you should also
get some flower next year.
It is not generally a good idea to cut into the older thick wood as it
does not always regrow (although often it will)
--
Charlie Pridham, Gardening in Cornwall
www.roselandhouse.co.uk
Holders of national collections of Clematis viticella cultivars and
Lapageria rosea
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> > Just moved into a new house and there is a small - big enough to sit out
> > with a plastic garden table and chairs - balcony outside our bedroom.
> > The sides of the balcony are covered by a Clematis which is growing from
> > ground level and has a trunk as thick as a small tree. It had overflowed
> > onto the balcony and had actually covered a small conifer growing there
> > to the extent that we only noticed it's tip poking out from the Clematis
> > several days after we had moved in!
> >
> > I have liberated the conifer to the patio and cut the Clematis back from
> > where it was overflowing onto the balcony - including where it seemed to
> > be growing behind the gutter and into the roof - it is still 95% as it
> > was. I would like to seriously prune it back, but how brutal can I be
> > without killing it and when? The house is rented and the landlord might
> > object if we start killing his plants off.
> >
> > Brian and Sue.
>
> PS It seems to be just coming to the end of its flowering.
>
> Brian and Sue.
>