Prune Clematis for Top to Bottom Blooms

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Prune Clematis for Top to Bottom Blooms, this is not a general clematis pruning guideline but how to renovate an overgrown or spindly growing one.

Again I need to repeat, this is not how you prune your clematis generally.  This post is really about one way to renovate clematis that may be blooming all on top but down below is bare vines yet you don’t want to cut it all off at once. 

This is my Warsaw Nike clematis.  It is in Group 3,  a Summer bloomer that blooms on new wood on into Fall. (it is often sold as Group 2)

Want to know the basics of How to Grow Clematis? I have you covered here.

So let’s get to it and prune clematis for top to bottom bloom!

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Warsaw Nike clematis climbing back porch rail with red rose, text overlay reads Prune Clematis for top to bottom blooms, Flower Patch Farmhouse

Which Clematis Pruning Group

This method will also work on Group 1 & 2, you may sacrifice some blooms on any of them the first season after the renovation prune but it will give you top to bottom blooms. In the long run you get more blooms and a prettier plant.

Note: if you have a group 1 clematis do some research on the particular named variety.  Each one can have unique preferences on pruning. But if you only prune back some canes as I show here then you should be fine on most.  Group 1 typically only bloom on old wood so keep that in mind. 

Warsaw Nike clematis climbing up a porch post and stair rail.

This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase after clicking a link I may make a small commission at no cost to you.

When to Prune Clematis

This method can be done from November on into March.  I choose November as I can access mine then, come any later and the ground could be covered in snow until June.
(when starting a new garden I do so in Fall as noted in this article, Start a Lazy Gal’s Garden)

This past Summer my Warsaw only bloomed way high at the top and did not re-bloom as prolifically as years prior.

Notice the tangle at the top of the lattice and on the porch rails.  If you follow it down you note the bare woody vines towards the base.

I have since learned that Warsaw Nike is actually a pruning group 3 clematis and blooms on new wood. Many suppliers have this mis-marked as a group 2 except for a very reputable grower I get many of my clematis from. 

Prune Clematis to Refurbish and get Top to Bottom Blooms

How to Prune Clematis

I start by cutting the entire top back by a third. I just used the porch floor as my guideline and cut across the tangle of vines.

Prune Clematis to Refurbish and get Top to Bottom Blooms

This helps me to see which vines come from which canes at the bottom.

The bottom near the ground is overgrown with other plants which I need to remove to get a clear picture of the base of the clematis and what I am working with. All those plants need to be removed.

Nothing here is dear so I start yanking them out and tossing into the compost bucket. (note: if you struggle with a fungus that can kill back clematis do not compost your vines)

Prune Clematis to Refurbish and get Top to Bottom Blooms

Clearing it all away shows me this…

Prune Clematis to Refurbish and get Top to Bottom Blooms

There are 5 strong woody vines coming from the base and one small one that is very limber.  

I pull the skinny limber one to the side so as not to accidentally cut it during my foray with the pruners

Later you will see what I am going to do with that long skinny vine

I cut one of the thick canes back to the ground then one 12 inches from the ground.

Right now my favorite pruners are these Fiskars Bypass Pruning Shears, and for larger vines I use the Loppers (these came in really handy when I pruned back the larger canes on my Climbing Rose)  

This will encourage new growth lower on the clematis. New growth is a good thing on a type 3 clematis since they bloom on new growth.

The next cane, the center one is cut at about 3 feet long.

The cane on the left is one I left longer, it goes in behind the trellis and comes out at the base of the porch floor.

The cane on the right actually goes behind the trellis and snakes over to the right side and back out around the corner, I left it to emerge from the other side but cut it back to the floor base as well.

Prune Clematis to Refurbish and get Top to Bottom Blooms

Why Prune Clematis at Different Lengths

By cutting the canes at the different lengths I will get new growth and blooms all  along the plant from the base all the way to the top.

If you only have 1 or 2 vines coming from the ground, cut it to about 6 inches from the ground. Cutting it will encourage your clematis to send up more vines from the root.

With new clematis I cut it back the first two growing seasons so it sends up lots of vines from the root.   

What did I do With the Last Vine?

So what did I do with the last vine left on the ground?

I buried it along the ground, not deep, just under the soil..you can see the leaves on the left and under the bare dirt is the vine.  

This will stay this way all winter and if everything goes as planned it will root in more than one spot along the vine…

Prune Clematis to Refurbish and get Top to Bottom Blooms

like this one below…I know it doesn’t look that convincing but towards the center where there are some brownish leaves is a clematis that rooted where it touched the ground.  

I will dig this up and replant it elsewhere after severing the vine from the mother plant.

This is called layering..see all about how I propagate Clematis by Layering here. You will love it!

Want to see how I Prune Group 2 Clematis in Spring, you can find that here!

clematis-prune-3-of-12

UPDATE:  to see what is happening now (Mar/Apr) with this Clematis CLICK HERE Update on my Clematis

All types of Clematis need a good structure to climb, to build your own see this post: Build an Easy Garden Obelisk

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Happy Gardening!

Prune Clematis for Top to Bottom Bloom
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28 Comments

  1. Pruning them back either way is fine and should help them develop thicker stems at the base. Spread a couple inches of some good compost around them in the Fall. I have found that clematis like certain areas of my garden and don’t like others so if they fail to respond to this treatment consider digging them up and moving them. Or purchase more and plants around to see where they like your garden.

  2. Pamela, I love all the information you give on Clamatis.. we just moved to our farm in May, 2020 in zone 7a. I’m not sure about the # 1, 2, 3. But one has a medium velvet maroon & the other has large violet blooms. However they both bloomed sparingly this summer. I don’t know how old they are but at least 5-6 years old. The stems are very small next to the roots. My plan is to dig around the roots and add some good soil and compost to them. I plan to prune them in November but should I cut them back to 6-8″ or 12-24″? Thank you for your Pinterest site.

  3. I love Bluestone Nursery! I often shop online at there site. Thank you.

  4. Judy Briwn says:

    I live near Bluestine nursery and I’ve always been happy with their plant. They’re a very reputable company and I high recommend them. They’ll be glad to send you a catalog.

  5. If your plants are flowering well and you only planted them 3 months ago then they are fine. It will take a couple years for them to really take off and grow upwards.
    The adage, first year sleep, second year creep, third year leap, applies.

    Give them time and they will rewards you for sure.

  6. G’day, from Australia !
    I found your very informative website. I’ve just (that is, 3 months ago) put in 3 new Clematis vines. One of them is growing well, has several arms growing up to the sky with a few flowers on it. The other 2, have not grown up at all – yet are covered with flowers. So no growth, but full of blooms. What’s gone wrong ??? I can’t even see any ‘leader’ which wants to go up the trellis. at the leaf ends there’s not one small shoot which wants to take off. They are squat and are doing absolutely nothing to grow upwards. Yet the 3rd one is doing beautifully. All in same garden bed, all with same soil/compost mix, all receiving the same amount of sunshine each day, all receiving the same amount of water. They are all next to each other (about 3m apart). What should I do, please ???

  7. With clematis, no matter what type it is, should be pruned back hard the first year to encourage good sturdy root development. You want more stems to emerge from the soil so cut it back hard to about 18 to 24 inches. You will sacrifice blooms but in the end it will be worth it. In future years it will have more stems and more blooms.

  8. Sue Alldaffer says:

    Hello, I planted an evergreen clematis planted last fall. It has one stem which started to branch out at about 46 inches from the ground and the other stem branches out 20 inches from the ground. It is seems very health above that but only had a few blossoms all summer. I am not sure if I should do pruning since it is a new plant or if I should prune it. My planting zone is 8a and 8b! I could really use your advice !

  9. Have you tried pruning them nearly to the ground in late Fall? I know all of mine have come back better than ever this past season as I gave them all a hard cut back. Clematis do well in cold or lower zones so I doubt that is the issue. Other than giving them a hard prune this coming Fall I am as flummoxed as you are.

  10. Love your site Pamela thank you for excellent information and education … since I’ve lost the names of Clematis’ I’ve planted half a dozen years ago how do I find out if I actually have a poorly performing one or one in the group that only grows on old wood? I thought originally that they all grew on new wood every year but surely this many years later they should be a lot thicker at the base like the picture of your fantastic plant ? …and really aren’t doing that well even with excellent soil and sunshine ! The Jack manii I I had in the city couldn’t be killed ! it was incredible and so easy to grow …this is the one plant I haven’t had any success with since moving to A Zone colder (4b) but the labels all said they could handle this zone … any advice other than compost and compost tea (that I’ve been using for years) or why I have such spindly stems every year? (I know they’re not planted too deeply And they get 6 to 7 hours full sun ) thank u for any ideas!

  11. I don’t fertilize or water mine any different than the rest of the plants around it. I use a few different things, first off I always add compost all the time to amend the soil, I use a weak liquid fertilizer during the cooler spring season, which I think are listed at the base of this post and an organic granular feed. I follow the directions on the packaging. Some don’t even fertilize at all and I think this one will do just fine as long as you have kept the soil fed with compost. There is no trick to keeping this one blooming, it does it all on its own as long as it gets plenty of sunshine. It is also not accurate that you must keep the roots cool with rocks etc, that is a wives tale. I found that out from a clematis breeder though the misnomer still gets passed around as gospel. I have clematis planted where the root zone gets full on sun and they do just as well (or even better) than the ones that have the root zone covered.

  12. Hi. I have been looking for some good advice on growing Warsaw Nike clematis and love your site! This is my first attempt at growing clematis. I purchased a Warsaw Nike this spring from Home Depot and planted it after last frost (late May here in southwestern Ontario, Canada). So far, there are no blooms and it seems to be taking a long time to grow. I mulched it and the roots are shaded by a tree as well. The vines are growing up into a very sunny spot, so I thought it would be a good location. We are in USDA zone 4 to 5. Cold in winter but lots of snow cover and hot, sometimes humid summers. I don’t know how old the plant was when I purchased it. It was only about 1 foot tall on the little trellis they provided in the pot. Can you please guide me on how to care for it and how and when to prune? Is it possible that it’s just too young to bloom, or have I done something wrong? Thank you so much!
    Penny

  13. It might be Fran. Fran will bloom on old and new wood so it is hard to go wrong with pruning on her. I dead head all summer and after the first big flush of blooms she will rebloom sporadically.

  14. Your clematis is such a beauty. I have that is very similar looking. I thought it was Jackmanii but I don’t think it is because it has double blooms. Might be Franziska Maria?. Anyway, I starts blooming in late May. I’ve never done much pruning to it so I’ll definitely be following your suggestions. Thanks!

  15. Pruning clematis depends upon the type of clematis and your climate. Here is the base post for Clematis then it links to succeeding posts that show why I prune different clematis and when. How to Grow Clematis successfully

  16. Sandy Texas says:

    So you prune now which is October ? I have always wondered when you prune the Clematis . I have 2 one of them I planted last year and the other this year . Is there a plant food you would recommend for the plant , if so how often do you feed it ? Im glad I came across your post .

  17. I am sure that did it. They say especially the first 3 years cutting it back like that makes the roots develop better and more shoots to come up from those roots.

  18. I have 5 clematis. Mostly the jackmani …when I first planted them(8yrs ago)each year I’d cut it back in late winter. I feel it gave the plants a good start. They are bushy with lots of buds.

  19. Hi Marissa. I have found Clematis at Lowes and Home Depot from time to time. Local garden centers should also carry them. You can also buy them online from reputable providers like Bluestone Perennials https://www.bluestoneperennials.com/genus/Clematis.html or
    Whiteflower Farms http://www.whiteflowerfarm.com/clematis-vines
    Most will fit in a wide range of zones, so find out your zone and go from there. Some areas don’t have a long enough winter chill for Clematis to perform well.
    A nice local nursery or garden center could advise you on what does best there.

  20. Marissa Hartley says:

    I live in Vicksburg, Mississippi and I want to know where I could buy clematis and what kind of clematis

  21. My clematis took over a climbing rose and then made its way onto the deck and twined up a bamboo I have in a pot close to the rail. It was determined to be tall, I did not mind being able to see the flowers up on the deck but the lower part was very sad looking. Here is to blooms all along next Summer!

  22. I hear ya, mine was looking sad around the base but what strong vines it has, I am sure it will be gorgeous next Summer.

  23. Pruning can be a bit tricky and many times it can totally depend on your location as far as knowing when to prune. Here in the mountains it is completely different timing than when I lived in the Valley, and that is only an hours drive from here but the elevation changes by 4000 feet.

  24. I doubt if you just planted it that is it overgrown already and need this kind of hard pruning. Which clematis is it? How fun that it is still blooming. Actually the one I just pruned would normally be still blooming some if it had not needed a good renovation. It was sad this year compared to years past. You can wait until around March too, but I guess that depends on how much snow you typically have on the ground then too. We actually get our biggest storms in March many times.

  25. My spring planted clematis finally bloomed last month and is still blooming. I guess I need to cut it down now before snow hits.

  26. Pruning is always a confusing issue. You’ve done a great job explaining how to care for your beautiful clematis.

  27. Sandra Gumm says:

    Thanks for the informative post. I will try this on my clematis, which is a prolific bloomer at the top, but in late summer begins to look as if it is dying on the lower third.

  28. This was very informative, Pamela. I have a clematis that I planted a long time ago that isn’t doing very well. I have a wisteria vine quite close to it and the wisteria branches constantly reach around and grow into the clematis. I try to keep them trained the other way, but they persist in twining into the clematis. Last summer I barely got any blossoms on the clematis so I cut both it and the wisteria enough to separate them. But the clematis really hasn’t revived. Sometimes I think it is dead, but then there will appear a bit of green here or there. My clematis is Jackmani and I can’t remember which number it is. But according to your post I can use your pruning method on any of the three types. I didn’t realize I could prune it this late in the year. We are having some rather mild and sunny weather this next week, so I think I will get out and do the pruning. Maybe I’ll be able to root one vine, too.

    Thanks so much for this post. I am hopeful that my once-beautiful clematis will be beautiful again!

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