RE-TRELLISING A CLEMATIS
How to give your overgrown plant a solid new support system
THIS is a great time of year to tackle those larger, trickier tasks that keep being shelved because something more important – or enjoyable – comes along. In our case, it was creating a stronger support for an overgrown clematis at the front of the house.
For the past couple of years, the well-established plant, which is entwined with robust plastic mesh attached to the house wall by a Heath Robinsonesque scattering of screws and twisted wire, has been slowly sagging.
It had got to the point where the front path was almost impassable and you risked losing an eye if you turned suddenly when walking past the clematis.
Winter is a good time to take action, because the plant is dormant and easier to handle when its branches are bare, and any growth removed will be replaced by new shoots in spring.
It was no mean feat, because we had to rummage around the back of the trellis to find the attachments and snip the wires. We then had to take the weight of the plant as it collapsed forward and lie it flat on the ground without snapping the stems.
There was no point trying to untangle it from the plastic mesh, as the stems were so entwined with it.
Once the wall was clear, the next task was to check the mortar was sound and start fixing the new trellis. This is a twoperson job, as you need one to hold the trellis in place and the other to use a spirit level and chalk to make sure the angles are true and then mark its position. Using a masonry bit, I drilled into the mortar to avoid damaging the brickwork and then inserted rawl plugs into the holes to hold the screws secure. Once the supports were in place, the trellis was attached and the clematis resecured in place using double-strength twine, which was easier to manipulate than wire in the cramped space. I might rethink this when I come to hard-prune the plant after flowering.
Now we just have to tackle the winterflowering clematis on the other side of the kitchen window…