Cut back Clematis

looksee

Over the summer I had to severely cut back some clematis, two montanas and a summer flowering one. They all have stems over an inch in diameter. They were cut back to around 4 ft high.

The summer flowering one has started to sprout from a joint about 3 ft up. There is no sign of life on either of the montanas. Should I cut them right back to the ground, or leave them and hope for the best, or do something else?

Thanks for any suggestions

Ophiopogon

Hey Looksee, I would say to leave the montanas be.

In my experience it can take up to a year for them to recover from a hard prune, although if they were old they may be dead unfortunatley. I would wait till next summer before fully deciding if they were in fact dead.

If they are not dead another prune would prob kill them I would think. I would just mulch them and protect from heavy frosts.

Also, I would actually have cut back the montana to about 2 or 3 foot when giving them a hard prune.

looksee

Thanks Ophiopogon, I think I will do that. I had cut one of the montanas back like that before and it not only rallied, it grew huge. I did do a bit more hunting around on line and found one useful article that said that if you cut montanas back severely they have a 50:50 chance of living or dying. Looks like a 'wait and see' situation.

ps I had to look up your name! Good one!