Creative ways with clematis

About clematis

There's a clematis for every season and every colour scheme, and plenty of options for displaying the beautiful flowers. Whether you train your plant to climb over a pergola or trellis, through a tree or up a freestanding gazebo, here's how to get the best results.

What to do

Choosing the right clematis

• Choose a variety that suits your needs. For instance, vigorous varieties that would quickly get out of hand in a container or engulf a slow-growing shrub are ideal for the walls of a house.
• And if you want to grow a clematis up a tree or shrub, decide whether you want it to flower at a different time to the host, to extend the season of interest or to bloom at the same time for maximum flower power.

How to plant

• Dig a planting hole 45cm (18in) away from your trellis, fence, wall or host plant.
• Make the hole twice the diameter of the container and deep enough so the top of the rootball sits 5cm beneath the level of the soil.
• Loosen the soil at the base with a garden fork. Soak the plant well.
• Put clematis at the centre of the hole and fill around the rootball with soil. Firm soil with your heel and water well.

Training tips

Clematis is a versatile climber and can be used in a variety of interesting ways in the garden, adding a vertical dimension and extending periods of interest.

Free-standing trellis

• After planting, untie stems from the cane and push four or five canes into the soil near the clematis and angle them towards the trellis, securing them with garden twine.
• Select four or five main shoots and tie them to the canes.
• Allow them to grow vertically up the trellis and tie in side-shoots to fill in the gaps.

Against a wall

• Before planting vigorous varieties that are ideal for walls, ensure mesh or a network of supporting wires has been attached to the wall. As the base of a wall can be very dry, add plenty of organic matter to the planting hole. Plant as for trellis.
• C. tangutica' Lambton Park' tolerates the drier soil at the base of sunny walls. It carries large, deep yellow flowers followed by silky seed heads

Up an arch

• To encourage bushy growth of clematis, pinch out shoot tips early in the season. Tie in shoots regularly during the growing season, aiming to make sure stems are spread out to cover bare areas.
• Use soft garden twine to secure growth.
• C. 'Prince Charles' is an ideal size to cover an arch without completely overwhelming it

Through trees and shrubs

• Plant clematis, still attached to their cane, at a 45-degree angle from the host tree or shrub to help direct growth.
• Remember when planting that it will grow towards the light so plant on the other side of the host.
• Allow stems to scramble freely into the supporting shrub and continue to tie new growth from the base of the clematis onto the cane.
• Many clematis go very well with roses.
• C. 'Elvan' has purple white flowers from July to September and won't completely overwhelm its host.

In pots

• Compact varieties are ideal for large containers. If freestanding, grow up a wigwam of canes, regularly tying in shoots with twine.
• Alternatively push a small trellis panel, designed for pots, into your container and stand against a wall to prevent it from being blown over.
• Try C. 'Arctic Queen' - white double flowers 18cm across in spring and again in August.

Watch video

Follow Toby Buckland as he plants several varities of clematis at Greenacre.