Clematis Care – Planting Your Clematis

Providing good clematis care will help ensure this beautiful flowering vine grows to a full and lush plant. The first step is planting it properly.

Clematis love sun, so you will to choose a sunny spot as well as a spot that has something for the vine to cling to when it grows.

They also like soil with good drainage so keep this in mind when planting. The spot I have chosen has a porch railing (just above the concrete) and I will provide my plant with a stake to climb up to the railing. Hopefully my porch railing will be covered with beautiful clematis flowers by the end of summer!

Dig a hole a about the size of the container your plant is in. You actually might want to go a little deeper (I have heard 2” deeper is good) which will encourage more stems to grow.

Gently remove the plant from the container. I usually pinch the sides of the plastic pot to loosen up the dirt and then pull the plant out by it’s base – GENLTY. Gentle clematis care at this point will help keep your plant from being damaged.

If the root ball is compacted, loosen them up a bit. Be gently here – don’t pull at them but just gently rub them until they aren’t so compacted.

Gently place the plant in the hole.

Fill the hole in with dirt and pat the dirt down.

Water thoroughly. I usually dig a little moat around the plant and fill it up with water then let it drain about 3 times. Fill in the moat and put mulch around the plant when you are done.

Clematis Care Tips:

Clematis like regular watering and prefer their roots to be cool, so mulching is recommended.

Feed every 4 weeks with a 10-10-10 fertilizer.

Prune off dead leaves, stems and flowers as necessary.