Too Late to cut back clematis and budliah?

sahmx5

Could anyone with a bit more gardening knowledge than me let me know if I'm too late to prune these two shrubs in my garden.

We inherited both plants when we moved last year. The clematis is huge and has a trunk as wide as my thigh and several branches going off in different directions to cover the wall. It spreads all over the back wall of the garden. The bit that flowered last year is just an enormous tangled mass of twigs. Where should I take it back to?

The budliah was tiny when me moved in and grew like wildfire and produced amazing blooms. I know I should have pruned this back hard about a month ago - am I too late?

Jonjulie

Clematis can be cut back now if they are late flowering variety,early flowering one`s really should be done in Autumn.
You should be ok cutting your Budliah back,we have one that i really go to town on every year and really does invigarate it,always comes back strong with lots more flowers for the butterfly population to get merry on.

navig8r

Jonjulie wrote:

Clematis can be cut back now if they are late flowering variety,early flowering one`s really should be done in Autumn.
You should be ok cutting your Budliah back,we have one that i really go to town on every year and really does invigarate it,always comes back strong with lots more flowers for the butterfly population to get merry on.

Remember the earlier you prune Budliah the earlier they flower ,we stagger the pruning on the bushes we have from late Jan until late March which gives the butterflies a nice long feeding season . most of the butterflies in our area which is above 700 feet appear quite late in the summer and the late pruning is of more advantage to them. Don't be afraid to cut them back hard if they are getting straggly as they are very hard to kill.

Dave

Lord_Gardener

Now is the time for most! Currently cutting back loads of Buddleia and Clematis. Re Buddleia, variety is important - common types such as B. davidii (white, red, blue conical shape) cut back to 18" if oversized, then back to 2" of last years gowth (from old wood) in subsequent years. Other varieties should be trimed back after flowering.Re Clematis, you need to know the variety. Pruning can be very complicated, however, generally a light pruning back to near old growth will suffice!

benood

I've always thought that the best time to prune clematis is after flowering, esp C.montana which is the commonest - if you prune now you are at risk of no flowers as C.montana flowers off last seasons growth.

Buddleja - the harder the better it will respond

sahmx5

Thanks for the replies everyone. I think the clematis is clematis montana - it flowered just after we moved in (early June). Pale pink flowers.

The budliah had deep cerise blooms and bloomed all summer long. Really striking. There are lots of these bushes in the front gardens of local houses but in the more traditional colours.

I have decided to err on the side of caution with the clematis and give it a gentle trim. The budliah will have a crew cut spread over a couple of weekends.