A Complete Guide To Clematis by Peter Skeggs-Gooch, September's meeting

Our speaker in September was Peter Skeggs-Gooch from Thorncroft Clematis Nursery (www.thorncroftclematis.co.uk)   Peter was a returning speaker having presented to us 2 years ago.  The nursery is based  in Ashton Under Hill in the Cotswolds and Peter is a third generation member of the family business who have won 12 gold medals at Chelsea Flower Show. Peter’s talk was very enthusiastic and informative accompanied by some lovely pictures.

 

With clematis you can have flowers throughout the year in a wide range of colours and some are scented.  Start in January to Mach with ‘Jingle Bells’ the Armandi variety. From April to May you have the Montana varieties.  Warning, most get to 30 foot but ‘Van Gough’ is an option if you want a shorter variety (12-15’).  In summer you get the large flowered varieties.  These are followed by those that will flower into autumn like ‘Golden Harvest’.  ‘Betty Corning’ has a spicey scent and is one of Peter’s favorites.

 

Clematis also come in various types and sizes.

·         Patio Pots – e.g. Pixie

·         Suitable for Pots – E.g. Countess of Wessex.  Will need something to climb up but only gets to 3 foot. Be imaginative with your plant support.

·         Garden Types that will grow from 6 foot to 30 foot depending on variety. They can grow through other plants e.g. roses.

 

Planting Tips:

·         Plant deeply. If you plant to a depth where the bottom 2 leaves are buried, the plant will through up new shoots from the ground. About 3 inches lower than the size of the pot.  Also the ground is more moist further down.

·         Improve the soil you are planting into with organic matter like garden compost.  Put it in the bottom of the whole so the roots grow down.

·         Tak of the pot you buy it in, Tease out the roots gently before planting into the whole.

·         Protect the crown from frost.  Put some mulch around the plant for the winter.

 

Pruning

·         Group 1 (Flower December to May) – These flower on old wood.  You only prune as necessessary to keep them tidy.

·         Group 2 (Flower from May – June) – In February there will be a lot of dead growth from last year. Cut this off.  Then after 2-3 weeks go back to the plant and look at which branches are shooting.  Cut off any dead wood without any shoots.

·         Group 3 (Flower June to Oct).  In March/Apr – hard prune these.  Kneel down, count the new shoots from the base on each stem and cut off everything above the second bud. (We promise it will regrow that year).

·         Feed when pruning.

 

Peter told us that although they like to exhibit at Chelsea it is a lot of work and his parents are getting too old (we can relate to this) and they need their staff at the nursery so they last exhibited in 2019. He also told us that there are less young people going into horticulture and unless this changes the specialist knowledge will die out.  He said that Christine Walkden (of gardeners question time) has been very supportive and helpful to them.

 

If anyone would like to borrow a copy of the catalogue then let us know.