Clematis in the open ground - planting and care

Clematis is a kind of decorative liana, strewn with many flowers in a wide variety of shades. Planting and caring for clematis in the open ground is even for beginners, and recently, flowers have gained immense popularity. These curly "bouquets" are increasingly used in the decoration of arbors, fences, facades, or simply to decorate the flower garden and garden.

Clematis as a plant for open ground

Clematis belongs to the family of buttercups. There are about three hundred varieties of this plant, which has won the tender love of all gardeners. They seek to plant it in the most prominent places in order to create coziness and bright mood on the site. Often, it’s clematis that adorns the gate and is the first to “meet” guests. Thanks to the various species of this plant, which can be not only a vine, but also a shrub, even flowering hedges can be created.

Clematis flowers are small and large, and their shape and shades are simply amazing with their incredible variety. Different varieties bloom at different times for 3-4 months. Thanks to this, you can create a bright kaleidoscope of blooming clematis in the garden, which will delight the eye during the entire warm season from spring to early autumn.

The main decorative value of clematis is abundant flowering

Most often, clematis is cultivated in the ground, but it will feel quite comfortable as a houseplant.

It is usually planted in pots, drawers or tubs (at least 60 cm high), placed in a well-lit place. Several holes are necessarily made in the bottom of the tank, then drainage, fertile soil are filled up, and after planting, they will certainly establish a support for the plant. To provide the roots with coolness and shading, stunted “neighbors” are planted in a pot with clematis.

Under comfortable conditions, clematis can bloom for up to five years without a transplant.

In which regions can I plant in open ground

Thanks to large-scale breeding work on the cultivation of various winter-hardy varieties, clematis quite easily took root in the northwestern regions of the country, in Siberia and the Far East. But in order to admire the bright colors of summer even in harsh climates, it is important to choose the right varieties whose whips successfully tolerate frosts.

Clematis flowers are painted in almost all colors of the spectrum, differing also in an infinite number of shades.

Table: Clematis varieties by planting region

Landing Nuances

Most often, clematis is planted in open ground in mid-May. But if the seedling was purchased in the summer, planting should be done in September, so that the plant had the opportunity to take root. This should not be done before because of the high probability of increasing its growth (which is not necessary at all in the winter) and freezing.

Landing clematis consists of several stages:

1. Seat selection. The plant loves sunny, but slightly shaded areas, which allows you to maintain the brightness and saturation of the flowers. In addition, it needs reliable protection from wind and draft.
2. Soil selection. Clematis likes light, nutritious, quickly absorbing moisture, loose soils. Categorically it is impossible to plant clematis in heavy soil with high acidity, which will inevitably lead to the impossibility of its full development and death. It is important to consider the level of soil moisture: the plant does not tolerate the abundance of groundwater. To create the most comfortable conditions and protect the roots from decay, it is better to place the plant on an artificial small mound made by hand. The presence of clay soil in the area selected for planting clematis requires the removal of moisture from the plant using a dug and covered with sand grooves.
3. Pit preparation. Its depth should be no more than 70 cm. A layer of gravel is first laid on the bottom, then a specially prepared soil substrate (a bucket of earth, half a bucket of humus, 100 g of slaked lime).
   

   During the autumn planting, the entire volume of soil is filled up immediately
4. Planting a seedling. The roots of the plant are evenly distributed along the width of the pit, after which the substrate is filled up from above. If planting occurs in the spring, this is done in such a way that the recess is not completely filled up, while the remaining part of the soil is poured in small portions until the fall.

When planting clematis next to the walls of buildings, it is necessary to step back 40 cm from them so that the roots cannot be damaged by rain flows from the roofs. If a composition of several bushes is planted, the gaps between them should be at least 25 cm.

Video: Clematis planting in open ground

Care Features

The main care for clematis is the timely sufficient watering and top dressing.

Watering

It is necessary to water clematis at least once a week. During the summer heat, its frequency increases to 2-3 times. At the same time, 1-2 buckets of water are enough for a baby bush, while for an adult - from 2 to 4. Filling the soil with a layer of mulch (peat, moss, humus) will help reduce the frequency of watering several times and slow down the growth of weeds around clematis. If this is not done, you should regularly (the day after watering) loosen the soil, at the same time breaking through the weed grass.

Fertilizer

It is also important to know that in different periods you need to use fertilizers of certain types:

• nitrogen-containing - during intensive growth;
• potash - during the formation of buds;
• phosphoric - after flowering.

In the summer (after pruning) the plant is fed with a solution of a complete mineral fertilizer (20 g per 10 liters of water) and a copper solution. Every spring, the bushes must be watered with lime milk (dolomite flour and chalk). During the flowering period, all dressings stop so as not to drown out the activity of the plant itself.

To protect the roots from rot during frequent summer rains, you should fill the bottom of the trunk with wood ash.

Supports

There are several types of supports for vines (arches, pyramids, fan structures, cylinders), each of which is perfect for clematis. Supports allow you to create beautiful compositions and support the stems of plants. Another requirement is the strength of the material of construction, which could withstand the burden of rapidly growing and heavier moisture after rains of clematis greenery.

The main thing is that the place of attachment of the stem to the support is not thicker than 10-12 mm

Pruning

It is from this procedure that the correct formation and beauty of the bush depends. Pruning is carried out several times a year:

• when planting (to form the crown and root system);
• in spring (to increase the flowering period);
• in the summer (adjusting pruning);
• before wintering (taking into account the features that each species requires).

Tillering ability is a characteristic feature of clematis

Winter preparations

Before wintering, it is necessary to remove leaves from clematis, cut off spoiled and dry branches. After that - remove it from its support, lay it on the ground and cover it using dry grass and leaves, straw, sawdust.

Another option is the construction of a wire frame around a plant laid on the ground, sheathed with roofing, film, roofing felt or a plywood box. At the same time, it is important to ensure that the shelter does not turn out airtight and has air access.

Clematis usually hibernates well. It is much more destructive for him to delay the disclosure in the spring, by virtue of which he can vypret.

In spring, it is necessary to free the plant from shelter, as soon as the threat of night frosts passes

Mistakes in care and their elimination

The beauty and health of any plant depends not only on the proper care. It is equally important to select plants designed for the climatic conditions of a particular region.

In case of any changes in weather conditions, it is necessary to conduct preventive examinations and measures to prevent the occurrence of various plant diseases.

A common mistake of inexperienced gardeners is the incorrect irrigation of clematis, due to which its root system dies, and the stems become victims of diseases and pests.

Excessive moisture can cause damage to clematis pathogenic fungi

Most often, clematis is exposed to the following diseases:

• Withering. It is caused by a fungus and is accompanied by a loss of elasticity of the shoots, after which they dry, wither, and without treatment the plant may die. The reasons can be stagnation of moisture and poor drainage of the soil. Treatment consists in removing all damaged shoots and watering the plant with Fundazole solution (1 g per liter of water), spraying with 3% copper sulfate solution (in spring), regularly loosening the soil and removing weeds.
• Gray rot. Plaque in the form of brown spots on leaves and shoots covered with a grayish "fluff". It usually appears in rainy times. To combat it, the affected areas are removed, and the plant is treated with a solution of "Azocene" or "Fundazole".
• Powdery mildew. Called by a fungus and looks like a whitish bloom on a plant, similar to sprinkled flour. In this case, its growth and flowering slows down. For treatment, spraying is used with a copper-soap solution (25 g per 250 g, diluted in 10 l of water, respectively) or a solution of soda ash (40 g per 10 l).
• Rust. It forms brown spots on the leaves and leads to their drying and deformation of the entire bush. A solution of potassium permanganate (medium strength) will help fight rust.

Pest and Disease Control

No less dangerous for clematis and invasion of pests, such as:

• Aphid. It settles on the underside of leaves, feeds on their juice and leads to drying and curling. To eliminate it, spraying with Fitoferm helps (2 mg per 1 liter of water).
• Spider mite. It causes the formation of white dots on the leaves below and the covering of the plant with a cobweb, which makes it look weakened. Insectoacaricides and acaricides (toxic drugs, diluted at 1 mg per liter of water) are considered to be effective in controlling it.
• Slug. Eat leaves and stems at night. Ammonia (2 tbsp. Per liter of water) is used against them, which is used to treat the plant.

Deeper can be collected manually with the onset of the dark

Breeding options

Clematis can be propagated in various ways: seeds, cuttings and layering.

Seeds

Large seeds are planted in January, small - in March:

1. We select planting material (preferably a new crop) and sort it.
   

   Clematis seeds are large, medium and small

2. We prepare a container with soil (earth, sand, peat in equal parts).
3. We sow seeds shallow, sprinkling with a small layer of earth, slightly compact and water.
4. We cover the container with glass and put it in a room with an average temperature of 25ºC.
5. We regularly ventilate and moisten the seeds, and after the first shoots we place the container in a rather bright, but protected from scorching rays place.
6. After the first leaves appear, seedlings are dived and planted in separate containers.
   

   The full value of seeds, even of the same type of clematis, in different years can be different - it depends, first of all, on weather conditions
7. With the onset of heat, we plant them in partial shade on open ground. The tops of the shoot require periodic pinching to stimulate root development. For the winter they need to be carefully covered.

Cuttings

Propagation of clematis by cuttings is one of the most famous and popular methods of breeding this plant:

1. In the fall, we choose a bush of five years of age (young people react poorly to such procedures and cannot reproduce the new one).
2. Cut the cuttings with at least two developed buds, leaving 2 cm on top and 3-4 cm on the bottom.
   

   Roots will grow at the lower edge of the handle.

3. Before planting, we process each process "Phytohormone".
4. In a container with prepared soil (sand with peat in equal parts) we plant cuttings at a slight slope and send it to the basement (with a temperature of 0ºC) before spring.
   

   Two cuttings can be planted in one container

5. Periodically check the condition of the soil: it must be moist. To do this, spray it from time to time.
6. At the end of winter, the container is transferred to a room with a temperature of 10-15ºC.
7. In March-month, as a rule, the first sprouts already appear, after which the container with them is transferred to the greenhouse.
8. After the sprouts reach a height of 10 cm, we pinch off the lower leaves to stimulate root growth.
9. In mid-May, we plant plants in open ground.

Video: clematis propagation by cuttings

Air layering

This is the simplest effective method that does not require any structures:

1. In October, we select a bush for propagation, cut off from it all the leaves and faded buds to a well-developed bud.
2. Carefully dig up the soil near the bush and form grooves about 6 cm deep.
3. Carefully lower the shoots into the grooves, sprinkle peat, earth on them and, having condensed, cover the clematis, as for wintering.

By next fall, the shoots will be ready for planting. It is better to dig them out with a pitchfork so as not to damage the roots.

Clematis blooms most abundantly in summer - from late June to August

Reviews

Clematis has been growing for four years for sure. Every year he builds up the root system and green mass. Flowers are getting bigger every year. Compared to the first year, the flowers are now twice as large in size now. First we planted clematis in a bad place. There was a shadow until ten in the morning and clematis poorly developed, even bent and my mother transplanted them to an open sunny place where there was no shadow at all. Clematis took root well. Added ash, pebbles, a little humus. At first, they watered not under the trunk itself, but in retreating 10 centimeters from the trunk. Because they read that clematis loves water not under the root, but around. This is a year or two. Then they covered the stem with grass, because they also read that the root should be covered. This is also the first two years. Until the flower has grown stronger and has not gone into active growth. The mass has grown, the trunk itself is closing itself with greenery and the rest is done by nature. For the winter we do not cut. And the first two years covered it with fir branches. Now we don’t care for clematis. Do not water, do not feed, sometimes we just weed.

Tatnyushka

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Clematis is very beautiful, unpretentious in leaving, likes to weave especially on a fence, if to give him several ropes, then he will willingly climb them. Clematis flowers are quite large - 16-20 cm in diameter. It is frost-resistant, but shoots can freeze, it will not be difficult to cut them in May, then it will overgrow with young shoots. Flowering is quite plentiful and long. Flowers have a faint and pleasant aroma. Clematis loves the sun and partial shade. It can be propagated both by division (if the plant is 6-7 years old) and by autumn layering - in the month of October. But the best thing to do is "pinning" in spring.Last year's shoots, where the site of the last shoot is located, must be buried to a depth (such that at least 2 buds remain on the surface) in peat pots buried in the ground. Water well and plentifully and by the fall seedlings will be ready.

elennas21

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I have never seen such huge flowers of clematis as a sort of president, the size of a saucer. The approximate size of a flower swaying on a long peduncle is about 18 cm in diameter. The shape of the flower resembles a starfish with pointed edges slightly bent up. Petals are usually 6 or 8, but there are also strange flowers with 7 petals. The color is complex. Blue-violet color with a purple stripe in the middle, very bright and juicy. The flower burns out slightly in the sun, but still remains very juicy. Anthers are dark red. Bloomed twice during the summer, but so far unfortunately not plentiful.

Kristiya

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Although Klematis are sun-loving, purpurea grows with me in partial shade! Yes, how it grows! For two months from a semi-dried root a full-flowered flowering vine grew. Also very beautiful) Velvet retro flowers are just a godsend for flower gardens in the old style. Or gardens like me, with a hint of abandonment) The blooming of Klematis purpurea captivity elegans is very plentiful and long. Every morning I meet a velvet charm that winds on a garden arch. I am very happy with my purchase!

Yulechka Beauty

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Choosing a variety suitable for climatic conditions, the right planting location and optimal care will allow you to easily create a bright "carpet" of colorful clematis on the site that will revive any gazebo, wall of an old building or a veranda. And thanks to the varieties blooming at different times, there is a unique opportunity to admire the magnificence of flowers and shades from spring to autumn.