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Mixing Clematis with shrubs

16 years ago

I have five tea olives growing in front of the fence around my pool. The tea olives screen the fence so it can't be seen from the road in front of the house. They are in their 3rd season and were 20 gallons when I started them

I'd like to plant clematis with the tea olives to give them color during the summer.

1. Is this feasible? I know they mix well with roses.

2. Would the clematis have to be trained each year.

3. I know clematis likes its feet in the shade. Would I plant it behind or in front of the tea olives? The front of the house faces northwest and pretty much gets full Georgia sun from mid-morning to sun set.

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Comments (2)

nckvilledudes
16 years ago
Clematis can easily be planted with a variety of shrubs and trees. The trick is realizing the eventual size of the shrub and trees you are planting them with and the fact that the plants will compete with the clematis for moisture and nutrients so you will have to be vigilant with giving the clematis extra food and water.

Unless you plant type I or II clematis, they will definitely need to be trimmed each year. If you don't trim type III clematis, they will develop woody trunks over time, the blooms will develop higher on the newer wood that is formed each year, and the plants will lose foliage on the woodier older vines.

Clematis do not need their feet in the shade. They like shaded feet because the shading via mulch helps maintain a more consistent soil moisture level. That being said the plants will naturally grow towards the sun which travels from east to west. Planting the clematis on the east side of the shrubs, if possible, would allow the shrubs to provide afternoon protection from the sun.

In your warmer zones, the type III clematis would probably work better, especially the viticellas since the type IIs tend not to like the heat and humidity in my zone 7a garden here in central NC.
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harryshoe zone6 eastern Pennsylvania
16 years ago
I have planted 3 clems in viburnum shrubs. They don't seem to be the least bit hindered by the shrub and are almost invisible until they bloom. A little vine management helps to space the clematis evenly and spiral it around the shrub to enhance the effect.
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Traditionally clematis and roses are a wonderful combination. I would suggest one possible drawback, however, and that is if you are concerned with getting adequate airflow around the base of the plant that perhaps adding the density of the clematis there might contribute to the factors that allow disease to prosper. Last year was the first time I had trouble with rust on my Everest Double Fragrance, and when I was trying to assess the reason I realized it was probably because I had clustered some potted plants around the lower portions, thereby blocking the airflow. I think having the clematis growing up and through the rose is good, but maybe safer to plant it a bit away and wait for the vines to get long enough to reach over and through and have the flowers up away from the root area. Now, understand that I am only speculating here. I grow roses and I grow clems and mostly they are still quite mysterious in their needs, but....needing a free flow of air seems to be one of them. Susan
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I've been planning to try clematis on shrubs this year so I've done a lot of reading on it. Type 3 is best since it's pruned winter or early spring, low each year, so you don't have to carefully disentangle live and dead stems, and you don't have to look at scraggly leafless stems in your shrubs all winter. Match the ultimate sizes of your shrub and clematis since otherwise one may overwhelm the other. The clematis needs to be planted outside the ultimate dripline of the shrub so there is less root competition. Make sure they have plenty of water and food since that wil also help reduce competition and help them both grow well. Since your shrub is already well established, check out how far out the roots go and plant outside that. Otherwise the clematis may never really get going due to too much root competition. I've read that it's easiest to plant the shrub and clematis at the same time if possible, so I guess you'll have to give the clematis some extra TLC to be sure it gets going. Once it's big enough to want to climb, you can simply move tendtils over to lean against the shrub or have it grow up a string or sticks to guide it towards the shrub.
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I have a Ville de Lyon growing through an Endless Summer hydrangea and from there onto the fence behind it. I have another type 3, white, but I don't remember the exact hybrid, up into a lilac. In each case I planted the clematis on the north side of the shrub, outside of the shrub's dripline by about a foot. I had read that the clematis would grow toward the light and therefore into the shrubs. It seems to have worked well as the Ville de Lyon has been there 3 or 4 seasons and the white one two or three. The lilac looked like it had white clematis flowers this year for the first time, and VdeL has been growing up into the hydrangea for several seasons. The shrubs were a year or two in the ground and at least three feet tall when I planted the clematis which were pretty small. I may need to move the VdeL at some point if it seems like the hydrangea is getting overwhelmed.
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They do not grab onto wood lattice panels well at all. I had hubby build them all over my yard before I found this out.....I have had trouble with chicken wire too. They do grab on to rebar, wire fencing, cattle panels, twine, wire obelisks....I have just been to a big open garden where they used the wire mesh grids for reinforcing concrete (4 x 8 $7.50 ea at Home Depot) and rebar to build many structures for Clemmies. Some free standing, some up against fences, some leading them into trees. They blend in to the scenery. They have used them for years. I've been to the garden many times but finally the man who built all the structures was there to talk to. Cattle panels found at Tractor/Livestock supply stores are heavier, don't cut as easily but make great archways you can walk through for under $25.00. You can make a teepee out of rebar and a hose clamp too. I've seen rebar "ladders" welded together too with decades old Clemmies on them. Reinforcing mesh wrapped around free standing 4 x 4's at another garden. There are wire trellises you can buy that are curved to cover up downspouts or lamp posts but the wire grids are much cheaper.
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