Gardening Calendar
Gardening Calendar
JANUARY
January is when climbers, shrubs and trees are leafless and in their dormant period and one of the best gardening months for pruning any garden subjects that could cause problems during winter storms and high winds. Wisteria is a good example of a climber that can be pruned now. After flowering the previous season and given a summer pruning it produces long wispy new growths that need to be controlled by cutting back. Either summer or winter pruning and whichever plant or shrub you are pruning the first step is to remove any dead or damaged branches.
JANUARY
January is when climbers, shrubs and trees are leafless and in their dormant period and one of the best gardening months for pruning any garden subjects that could cause problems during winter storms and high winds. Wisteria is a good example of a climber that can be pruned now. After flowering the previous season and given a summer pruning it produces long wispy new growths that need to be controlled by cutting back. Either summer or winter pruning and whichever plant or shrub you are pruning the first step is to remove any dead or damaged branches.
JANUARY
January is when climbers, shrubs and trees are leafless and in their dormant period and one of the best gardening months for pruning any garden subjects that could cause problems during winter storms and high winds. Wisteria is a good example of a climber that can be pruned now. After flowering the previous season and given a summer pruning it produces long wispy new growths that need to be controlled by cutting back. Either summer or winter pruning and whichever plant or shrub you are pruning the first step is to remove any dead or damaged branches.
Pruning Clematis
The Clematis is a climbing plant that does not require a vast amount of pruning. A little thinning will need to take place as the plant becomes established. Remember that the time of the year to prune clematis can vary, depending on the species; there are early-flowering and late-flowering varieties.
The early bloomers bloom in the first half of summer. They bloom on the branches, which they produced the previous summer. The late bloomers bloom in the second half of the summer, on foothills they made during the current summer.
So to prune your clematis at the appropriate time, it is important to know when your Clematis blooms!
​
Three pruning groups
The clematis has three distinct pruning groups. In order to apply the correct pruning method, it is important to know which group your clematis belongs.
Pruning Group 1:
Pruning group 1 includes the clematis that bloom early in the year (April - May). Clematis alpina's, C. macropetala's, C. chrysocoma, C. montana, C. evergreen, C. armandii, C. cirrhosa and C. forsterii belongs to this group. This group blooms on wood that was formed the year before. Subsequently, they will bloom next year on wood which is formed this year. Therefore, it is important not to cut back the clematis belonging to this group at the wrong time. The best pruning time for these clematis is immediately after flowering, so in May or June.
​
Pruning Group 2:
This group includes the large-flowered hybrid Clematis. They bloom in spring, around May - June and require a slight pruning. For the best results, cut one metre above the ground (leaving 1 metre of the clematis). This is to prevent that the clematis only flowering at the top of the plant. The flowers of this clematis are formed on wood from the previous season during the first flowering period.
​
Pruning Group 3:
Large-flowered hybrid clematis belong to this group, for example the C. jackmanji. Together with the small-flowered viticella, orientalis, diversifolia and texensis, these clematis bloom in summer. One of the features of clematis that belong to this group is the bloom on new stems formed around March - April. The foothills become very long and the flowers are formed higher than in the other clematis groups, it is wise to cut the plant around February-March to about 40 -60 cm above the ground.