My Jackmani Clematis is starting to come up, and I am wondering if I should cut out some of the shoots, there are a dozen or more shoots to every plant about 6in. high,they come up like this every year and become quite a jungle. when I look in Garden books they always show one stem and the vines brantch out from it. Mine don't grow like that, they always have a dozen or more vines come out of the ground together. Thanks for any help. Bob
Beutler refers to Cl. ‘Jackmanii’ as one of the “heavies." They can get very heavy for companion plants or structures, although not necessarily particularly tall. In the section of her book entitled “Pruning in the Real World,†she specifically describes this clematis as one that can be hard-pruned every year to rebloom in July at 12 feet. However, if you choose to grow this clematis into trees, for example, you can prune it infrequently, and in this way you can enjoy the bloom higher in the trees and time it earlier in the season. Beutler, Linda. Gardening With Clematis: Design & Cultivation. (Timber Press 2004). ‘Jackmanii’ is categorized as group 3 for pruning purposes, so it blooms on new wood. You mention that “there are a dozen or more shoots to every plant†and that they "become quite a jungle.†This would describe my Cl. terniflora - Sweet Autumn Clematis. How many do you have and are you sure that they are ‘Jackmanii’? Perhaps these are older, established vines?
Thanks for your reply, but this is definitely not cl.terniflora, not by the pictures in my books. so i guess the best thing to do is cut out 1/2 the shoots and see how it does.
I didn't mean to suggest that yours was Cl. terniflora, just that mine gets a dozen new shoots and can be dense, although it is only a few years old and still in a pot. Aside from some species clematis, I have only had the other dozen or so hybrids from one to three years, so I have only seen a couple of new shoots emerge for each in spring. That is why I was wondering if yours is an older plant. I remember reading that some clematis can be divided, so I found the following link: http://www.aboutclematis.com/dividing_clematis.shtml.
Actually, common problem is climbers not being fanned out from near base to make coverage on more than one level (like an espalier), rather allowed to run right up to the top and bunch up there. Old junk from last year can be gotten rid of with a clematis of this growth type by cutting everything low at end of winter, say at below 12". If long new basal stems have already gotten fairly well up into the old stuff cut above wherever these are at this point. Do it soon.
