clematis armandii - growing advice?

waterwatereverywhere

Hi

Thanks to some excellent advice in another thread we've decided to buy one of these to form a privacy screen.

Sorry to ask dim questions but not being experienced gardeners we're worried if it's the right choice and would be grateful for any advice. They're pretty expensive plants so we don't want to buy it if it's not suitable for our spot and we're only going to kill it off ....

All the online stuff says this plant is "hardy but needs winter frost protection" - not sure how we would do this if it's growing and it's evergreen and will (hopefully) have spread to cover our trellis. How do you give such a plant winter protection?!

Also it says it does not like wind and prefers a sheltered position. It will be growing against the shelter of a large wall but we've added trellis at the top so obviously the trellis bit at the top will be exposed to wind - is this a problem? Or so long as the main bit of the plant roots/base is sheltered a bit from wind would that be okay?

All the online plants seem to be tiny and you end up paying around £10-£12 for P&P but B&Q are selling a large established one of these (around 2ft tall) on a trellis for £25. I know people say B&Q isn't a good place to buy plants but it looks healthy and seems better value than buying one a fraction of the size online. What do experienced gardeners think?

If/once we've bought it and put it in can we feed it tons of mirace grow to get it to establish quickly? Desperate to have the trellis covered quickly as it's not pretty to look at bare ...
Many thx.

waterwatereverywhere

Hi

Just following up on this, where we wanted to dig in a clematis we've discovered there seems to be either concrete or a very large brick or slab which we can't dig out. There would be enough room for a small to medium size clematis - are we safe to put it here as it wouldn't be able to establish roots in a downwards direction much - only left and right??

Sorry if this is a very dim question....it looks like a man made bed and the last owners seem to have chucked in loads of gravel, stones and bricks under the layer of earth...

Thx in advance.

Jack's_mummy

No idea about the roots but my armandii has never had frost protection, even this winter, and is currently flowering better than ever! I give it a good cut back once it has flowered and tir it in again as it grows back. We also live on a very windy and exposed hill in Yorkshire and it doesn't seem to mind.

dogstarheaven

hi
mine's actually grown in a 18' pot with John Innes no.3 soil on an East-facing trellis. this was bought last autumn at a cost of £15 from a small garden centre (they're normally at this price). it's originally height was about 2.5' and now it's about 4' already. the buds are showing and hopefully will bloom for me soon. altho' it's meant to be late winter/early spring flowering, it's a month behind due to the nasty winter we've just had.
if you're really desperate to grow a climber and in such a short space of time, grow runner beans or morning glories. they're v easy to germinate and the flowers are lovely too (bees love 'em) and you'd get beans to eat all summer! i wouldn't buy large plants not only because of the exhorbitant prices that B&Q/or fancy garden centres put on them, but the plant can take a while before it establishes itself. buying young plants is much better, cheaper and quicker for you.
hope this helps.

dogstarheaven

waterwatereverywhere wrote: »

Hi

Thanks to some excellent advice in another thread we've decided to buy one of these to form a privacy screen.

All the online stuff says this plant is "hardy but needs winter frost protection" - not sure how we would do this if it's growing and it's evergreen and will (hopefully) have spread to cover our trellis. How do you give such a plant winter protection?!
Also it says it does not like wind and prefers a sheltered position. It will be growing against the shelter of a large wall but we've added trellis at the top so obviously the trellis bit at the top will be exposed to wind - is this a problem? Or so long as the main bit of the plant roots/base is sheltered a bit from wind would that be okay?

If/once we've bought it and put it in can we feed it tons of mirace grow to get it to establish quickly? Desperate to have the trellis covered quickly as it's not pretty to look at bare ...
Many thx.

i didn't realise the OP wanted to use this for privacy. so here's my take on this -

for privacy: i have this issue with my nosey, chavvy neighbours and decided to grow runner beans up a fence plus trellis which was 6' tall last summer. it certainly provided complete coverage over a 5' length fence, albeit temporarily... this yr, i've got prickly japanese quince as a permanent shrub which i can train to climb up the fence.

for hardiness: don't worry about that, my clematis survived the winter we've just had and it's buds are almost coming out...?

for feeding with Miracle Grow: don't overfeed! follow the bottle's instructions for guidelines. i use chicken manure pellets each time i plant a new plant and regularly liquid feed throughout the growing season on a weekly basis.
hope this helps

waterwatereverywhere

Hi again

Thanks so much for the encouraging words about the situation, wind and frost etcetera, that's really good to know. It's typical I suppose that all the info on plants seems to say the same sort of thing about frost and wind protection.....

Thanks for the tips re runner beans and morning glories online - don't really know what the flowers look like on these but will google to see. I know we shouldn't be impatient just desperate to see it all covered and gain some much needed privacy....

Went to a different branch of B&Q and they had smaller but still established armandiis for around £9 and another one, avalanche I think it is, which is very pretty and around £8 or £9. Much better value than the £25 we saw the other day - plus if we do kill it off we won't have wasted so much money!! Both are around 2 ft tall and look healthy so think we're going to opt for these and fingers firmly crossed...

Thanks for the advice ... still persevering with trying to dig the hole deep enough, if anyone can comment on that would be most grateful.

tanith

Clematis like their roots kept moist and if its got a slab of concrete under it its either going to be too dry or it will be sitting in a pool of water either of which could spell disaster... you really need to either remove or at least break up the concrete or plant in another place...

savemoney

Clematis also thrive in warm condition or sheltered spots with some sun but also like roots kept in shade so always put some stones on top

valentina

I have had no success with clematis in pots, they die on me after a couple of years, so I wouldn't put one in a restricted space. I have a passion flower (passiflora caerulea) which has lived happily in a pot about 2 ft square now for about 10 years, so perhaps you could try this. The idea of runner beans or ipomoea (morning glory) is good too. Once you have ipomoea it self seeds so you might only need to buy it once!