pruning clematis for maximum fence coverage

7 years ago

I planted 6 Sweet Autumn Clematis against the wooden fence at the rear of my backyard. They're growing up some garden trellis netting installed an inch or two away from the fence.

I planted them to help screen the view of my neighbour's property, therefore I don't want them to bolt up 6 feet, leaving sparse growth below. The nursery I bought them from suggested consistent pruning in order to encourage lateral growth.

This made sense at the time. However, now that I'm looking at the plant I'm wondering how much to prune off, how often to prune, should I prune just above or below one of the little leaf pairs? All of the articles I've found on pruning clematis don't focus on this sort of pruning. Information or direction to any sort of resource would be much appreciated.

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gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)

7 years ago

I'm not sure I understand your situation :-) Can you see through this wooden fence?? And how tall is it? Where is the view you are trying to screen?

If left to their own devices, the SAC will grow easily to the top of the fence and then can be trained to spread along the top, draping down somewhat as it does. Will this not provide sufficient coverage? FWIW, clematis and other true vines want to grow up by nature, not horizontally. If adequate lateral support is provided, you can encourage a decent amount of horizontal spread just by carefully guiding the side stems through the trellis or netting or whatever. Pruning will just remove current growth but does encourage new growth that will also want to climb vertically....unless guided or trained by you :-)

And I have to wonder how long a fence this is you are covering. SAC's grow to be very large vines - easily 25-30 feet in a single season once established. 6 SAC is one heck of a lot of vinage!!

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Comments (8)

blueocean m
Original Author
7 years ago
Yes, you can see through the wooden fence. It's the style where the vertical boards alternate sides of the horizontal support. From far away the fence appears solid, from up close, particularly on an angle, it does not. I wish to screen the view of my neighbour's house (20 ft from the fence) but mostly the yard in general. They have an aggressive dog and a tendency to leave a lot of garbage out. The fence is roughly 6 ft tall. (I'd take a picture, but it's hard to do that without looking like a creep!)

Thanks for the info, it sounds like I should stick to pruning to encourage growth, and then train it where i want it to go.

I will be thrilled if it turns out I over-bought for this situation. Quick coverage is key. The fence is about 65 ft long, with other areas the vines could expand to. I did buy the plants based on a knowledgable local nursery's advice. Plus it's partial shade, plus it's zone 5/6, so we will see how they grow!
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Witchazel
7 years ago
I think the vine is going to grow to the top of the fence first and then horizontally from there. I think over time the bottom we'll get filled in and covered but it's going to be hard to prune it to cover the bottom first. Also, this variety reseeds heavily so at some point, I promise it'll completely cover that fence from to to bottom even if you don't prune it at all.
blueocean m thanked Witchazel
blueocean m
Original Author
7 years ago
At the very least I will want to train the vine to get the maximum spread/coverage, even if I don't end up doing any pruning. I find from pictures of clematis (Sweet Autumn and otherwise) they tend to be rather leggy, with most of the bulk on the top. Which is fine, but I do want to encourage it to cover as much of the fence with foliage as possible.
User
7 years ago
last modified: 7 years ago
I've not found my SAC to ever be leggy at all. This one is 12 yrs old, and is always full at the bottom. I cut it to about 1 ft every fall or winter, and it reaches our roof by mid-summer ....
blueocean m thanked User
blueocean m
Original Author
7 years ago
Lovely looking vine MizGG! I wonder if the limited space encourages it to fill in so well. Usually I see pictures where the vine looks more like this:
blueocean m
Original Author
7 years ago
Whoops, posting that picture didn't work. Either way, it looks great.
User
7 years ago
last modified: 7 years ago
Thank you! :)

It tries to spread ... it would like to take over the window planter and nearby shrubs. :D About once a month, I pull a few wandering stems back.

The trellis under:
blueocean m thanked User

pruning clematis for maximum fence coverage

gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)

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pruning clematis for maximum fence coverage

gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)

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