Carolyn, none of the clematis you are planning on planting are ones that get monstrous and therefore aren't likely to smother an arborvita hedge or cause problems with dieout on the hedge. If you were trying to grow one that got as big as say sweet autumn clematis or another of the species such as orientalis or that type of clematis, I would be somewhat concerned about the shade provided by the clematis on the evergreen causing brownout on the plants. The only thing to consider is that the two clematis you mentioned are type IIs and really don't get pruned back in late winter. If you have to prune your arborvita hedge back to keep it in shape, you could delay or forestall the blooming on your clematis depending on when the hedge is trimmed back. If you don't prune this hedge, then you don't have anything to worry about.

As far as the hedge and the clematis competing with each other especially for water and nutrients, that is something that is definitely going to happen. You can easily remedy that by providing the plants with enough water and nutrients--especially the first couple of years the clematis are planted and getting established-- and also provide the clematis with exta water during times when you don't get much rainfall especially in the summer.

Things to consider when planting your clematis to grow on the hedge. First, are the hedges at their full height and width. If not, plant the clematis far enough away from the arborvita so that once they are at full maturity, the arborvita won't be right up next to or covering where the clematis are planted. You can easily lead the clematis into the arborvita with a garden stake or even rig up wiring to the arborvita. Secondly, if the arborvita are dense type plants, realize that the clematis will essentially grow up and over the plants and not necessarily through the branches. Lastly, if at all possible, plant the clematis on the shady side (north side) of the arborvita because the clematis will grow towards the sunlight so will grow around towards the front of the arborvita.

Good luck with your clematis!

I have a large arborvitae hedge that I have clematis planted on. I only use the type 3 pruning group on the hedge. I don't like to look at the dead vines on the hedge all winter. The 3's you can prune to the ground every fall and your hedge looks nice all winter. My hedges have very dense roots that suck all the moisture out of my flower beds. I cut out the bottom of a 5 gallon bucket and buried that in the ground in front of the hedge. I then planted the clematis in the bucket. This will keep the arbovitae roots away from the clematis for years until the clematis roots establish well. When I water and fertilize the clematis I know they will be getting it and not the hedge. They have all done very well and really add a lot of color during the summer. The viticellas and species varieties have done very well for me.

I'm planning on doing this with Jackmanii, Niobe and a single 16 foot Pyramidal Gold Tipped Arborvitae (Thuja occidentalis).

Anything I should consider before I try it?

flowerfan, got pictures? I would love to see Clems on an arborvitae hedge. Love your idea of the buckets too.

My neighbors on two sides have mature arborvitae that I would love to "decorate"

I'm afraid on the one side they would all grow through to the sun which would benefit the neighbors and not us. However the other is sunny and it is badly pruned with a lot of dead trunks sticking up. Love to cover it.

Hi buyorsell, no I don't have any photo's. I guess I will have to take some next summer. I have 6 clematis growing on the hedge, mostly species varieties like tangutica, virginiana, vitalba, potaninii and rehderiana. I also have a variagated honeysuckle and golden hops. The golden hops look beautiful against the dark foliage and are very drought tolerant. They are invasive so if you plant those they need to be in a barrier. I have a summer snow clematis planted on the hedge that gets huge. It grows about 30'wide and 15'high. The white blossums really stand out and the foliage turns yellow in the fall which is another bonus. It really spruces up the dull hedge in the summer. Karen

I shall eagerly await them. :) I have trouble picturing vines growing on arborvitae. I guess I should just plant some.

I've got 50' of 15' tall arborvitae down one side of the house, 20' fronted by a solid cedar fence that is 6' the other 30' has a 4' chain link fence in front. Our side is the east side and it is mostly shady.

Then the 30' behind the greenhouse is fronted by a 4' chain link fence and is the west facing really horribly pruned nightmare looking hedge.

The owner hadn't pruned our side and we didn't realize that the branches were 3' over on to our property. To put up the greenhouse we had to take them off. It left bare trunks. Owner won't let us totally remove them, thinks they will re-sprout.

His side of the hedge is green and lush as it had been trimmed regularly.

Flowerfan,

I too would love to see your pictures. I never did do this with the clemmies I was transplanting. My husband was very concerned about his hedge that he had been babying for a number of years. He put the hedge in to block out a neighbor we have that we really wish lived elsewhere.

Carolyn22

Hi buy or sell and Carolyn, I will take some photos this summer and post them for you. Carolyn the vines of the type 3 don't get heavy and have never damaged the hedge. After you cut them back in the fall you can't even tell they were ever there. Buy or sell it sounds like you need to get busy and spruce up all those ugly fences and hedges with clematis. I read a book on clematis by Mary Toomey. In it she also had a section on growing clematis on cedar hedges. She only used type 1 clematis though. Her theory was the permanent vines helped keep the stragley cedar hedges together by weaving through the branches and holding them together. So that is another idea. I personally don't like the dead looking vines on the hedge in the winter, but it is just a personal preference. Karen

I have trellises and Clems on my solid cedar fences, 11 of them so far but the arborvitae looks much worse than the wood fence, at least the badly neglected than hard pruned one does....

I mixed 1's and 2's together on the cedar fences. I have evergreen 'Appleblossom' and 'Avalanche' but they are young.

I don't mind the bare vines on the cedar fences, they are almost the same color as it has weathered but I agree with you that bare vines on the arborvitae would look bad.