Clematis is a beautiful ornamental plant that many summer residents fell in love with. This blooming vine adorns many areas. But it also requires some care. Particular attention should be paid to caring for clematis in the fall and preparing it for winter.
What care does clematis need in preparation for winter
Autumn work on the care of clematis depends on what species these vines belong to.
For a summer resident, even with little experience, it is not difficult.
You will need:
- watering the plant in the autumn (this procedure is especially necessary if the pre-winter passes without rain);
- feed the vine with fertilizers;
- process from possible pests;
- prune bushes;
- free the bush from dried foliage;
- cover the plant before the first frost.
Top dressing
To prevent root decay with frequent rains, after each precipitation, the lower part of clematis is covered with wood ash
Plants need to be fed before pruning. This should be done in early September. Fertilizers need to be applied with a sulfate-phosphate group. Diluted bone meal can be used. It will be useful to scatter sifted wood ash at the roots and mix it with the ground. Just do not use more than 0.5 kg per 1 bush.
You should not use fertilizers that contain nitrogen before winter. It stimulates the development of the vegetative system, and during this period the liana does not need it.
Pruning
The cut is made 5-7 cm above the nearest kidney, it should be oblique, in this case, water does not linger or accumulate at the cut ends and they are less exposed to various rot
You need to cut clematis in the fall. In spring you can do this for decorative purposes.
First year
In the first year of plant growth, special care is not required before wintering, but it must be cut off. Any variety of this garden vine in the first year is cut 20-30 cm above the ground so that 2-3 buds remain. This stimulates the growth of lateral branches.
Trimming 1 group
All clematis are divided into 3 groups. Usually, information about this is on the package with seeds. Group 1 includes varieties whose buds appear on last year's shoots. These are, for example, the varieties Montana, Cardinal Rouge, Armanda, etc. Here, pruning is done carefully, leaving strong stems and pruning them not very low.
Cropping group 2
For pruning shoots, a sharpened pruner or garden knife is used, which is disinfected each time after moving to the next bush, which avoids the transmission of infectious diseases from one plant to another
These varieties bloom twice a year. From May to July, the buds on last year's shoots begin to please the eye, from July to early autumn - on the shoots of this year. Usually, trimming is done here at least half a meter. Famous varieties of this group: president, minister, flower ball.
Cropping 3 groups
This includes varieties that form flowers on the shoots of the current year. Such vines are cut low, leaving 3-4 buds so that they give new shoots. Such colors include ville de lyon varieties, cosmic melody, etc.
Disease treatment
You can not process healthy plants before wintering at all, just remove dried foliage from them. Just in case, you can apply Bordeaux liquid and treat the stems and the trunk circle with it. You can put rodent baits nearby.
Transfer
The best time for autumn planting of clematis is September, you should not plant later
Some gardeners practice transplanting the plant to a new location in the fall. In principle, this will not harm the flower, but the plant takes root for a long time in a new territory. Clematis blooms much more magnificently where it grew for many years. In some places, it can actively grow up to 20 years.
Video: autumn clematis transplant
Shelter
It is finally possible to cover clematis only when the process of soil freezing begins, the air temperature drops to 5-6 ° C of frost
Plants of groups 1 and 2 are carefully twisted and laid on the ground, after adding peat there. Then they are carefully covered with spruce branches or roofing felt. The main thing is that the flow of air remains and there is no moisture, otherwise the liana will resist. Be sure to surround the place of shelter with peat or improvised materials to avoid flooding this place with spring melt water.
Vines of the third group can only be slightly covered with earth.
With proper shelter, not too early, with protection from moisture, clematis can withstand frosts down to -45 ° C.
Video: shelter for the winter clematis of the third pruning group
Features of wintering in different regions
The shelter should protect the rhizome and shoots, if they are left for the winter, from precipitation, melt water, any possible wetting of the base of the bush and the surface of the soil
Clematis winter in different zones of the country in different ways:
- in the middle lane they are covered carefully, even installing special frames on top;
- in Siberia in the Urals, snow is actively used as a covering material, plants are protected with boards or boxes;
- in the Volga region, especially in the southern regions, special attention is paid to the absence of spring water and generally dampness;
- in the southern regions, the liana can be simply laid and covered with foliage, and the plants of the 3rd group can only be lightly sprinkled with earth.
Reviews
It is not necessary to keep the entire length of the vine. It is enough to cut at a height of 1.5 m and bend it down. It should be bent by twisting it with a ring, starting from the top. Lay on the ground (better on a mat made of spruce branches, but our experience says that there is no difference) and sprinkle with earth, about 1 bucket with a slide. From above it is necessary to make a canopy (put a box with a tight bottom) in order to prevent getting wet, but there were also holes on the sides for ventilation. It is advisable to throw snow.
Clematis have been growing with me for 8 years already. I don't know the names. Every autumn, in November, I cut them off, leaving a stump of about 10 centimeters from the ground. If I don't have time in the fall, I do it in early spring. The plant loves the sun very much, and the root part must be kept in the shade. In our garden centers, it is recommended to plant low lilies around. They keep the root in the shade. The result is excellent.
Clematis is hardy enough. It is more likely to be killed by an excess of moisture than frost. I don’t cover mine for the winter (in winter the temperature drops to -20 ° C sometimes even lower).
I follow a few rules when growing clematis. The first - planting in a sunny place, the second - I feed it with fertilizer for flowering plants, the third - I cover it with fir branches for the winter. And my clematis delights me with their flowering almost all summer!
As you can see, caring for this plant before frost is not difficult, but mandatory. Liana should not be in a hurry to open until the end of cold weather, especially sub-zero temperatures. Remember this, and the vine will delight you for a long time.
