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Clematis can grow in one place for more than two or three decades, and its marvelous and inimitable flowers adorn home gardens for 3-5 months a year. The long, luxurious flowering and unpretentiousness of the plant have become the reason for the universal love of flower growers for these delightful flowers. Given such a long period of growth without a transplant, it is desirable to immediately create favorable conditions for planting clematis in the spring in open ground.
How demanding is Lomonos
Before embarking on the process of planting clematis, it is advisable to know in advance what this flower loves and dislikes. Subsequently, correcting your mistakes will be very difficult, and sometimes impossible.
Choosing the right place
Before planting clematis in spring or autumn, it is advisable to choose in advance a suitable area where the flowers will feel comfortable. After all, the state of the plant, as well as the abundance and duration of flowering, depend on how responsibly you approach this process.
Clematis are very photophilous. For luxurious and long flowering, they must be adequately illuminated by the sun’s rays. However, under direct, scorching rays, the plant will feel oppressed. This condition will invariably affect the flowering of clematis – in the bright sun, the flowers lose their brightness, gradually shrink. Over time, the varietal characteristics of a plant can be irretrievably lost.
The ideal place for planting clematis in the spring will be an area illuminated by the sun until noon and for several hours in the evening.
Areas where melt or rainwater stagnate, as well as places with a high groundwater table, are completely unsuitable for clematis. Stagnation of moisture can provoke the occurrence of various diseases. The root system begins to rot, and the flowers may die.
It is undesirable to plant clematis both in spring and autumn along the walls of the house, deaf, windproof fences, or outbuildings, where water from the roofs will fall on the plants. Humidity plus a lack of fresh air can cause the development of fungal diseases and the appearance of insect pests on the vines.
The minimum distance from walls or fences should be at least 50-70 cm. It is advisable to take care of supports before planting clematis in the spring in the ground: small lattices, arches, nets, trellises. They will simplify the further care of flowers.
It is permissible if the clematis is slightly blown by a light breeze, but drafts and piercing winds are detrimental to it.
Soil preparation
Competent preparation is no less important than choosing a place for a flower garden. Before planting clematis in the ground, it is necessary in the spring, a week before planting, to prepare the soil.
The soil on the site must be checked for acidity. Clematis do not grow well and bloom very poorly on acidic soil. It is also undesirable to plant flowers on loamy and sandy soils. Therefore, make sure that the land in the area where you decide to plant clematis in the spring is properly prepared.
Acidic soil is deoxidized by adding chalk, dolomite flour or slaked lime during soil preparation. Heavy, loamy soils must be loosened with sand and enriched with nutrients. Humus, humus or peat is perfect for this.
The result should be a loose, fertile, mineral-rich soil mixture.
When to plant flowers
To the question: when is it better to plant clematis – in spring or autumn it is difficult to answer unambiguously. Most flower growers are in favor of spring planting flowers, but some plant them in early autumn.
For most varieties of clematis, spring is the best time to plant outdoors. Until autumn, the plant will have enough time to take root and properly prepare for the winter. Clematis planted in open ground in spring have a more powerful root system and high resistance to many diseases.
In early spring, clematis can be planted in the southern regions of Our Country, as well as in central regions, where the climate is milder. But in the Urals or in Siberia, it is not worth starting planting work before the third decade of April or the first decade of May.
Of no small importance in determining the timing of planting clematis in the spring is the appearance and variety of flowers. Early flowering varieties should be planted as early as possible. But creepers that enter the flowering phase later can be planted a couple of weeks later.
Whenever you decide to plant clematis, in spring or autumn, it is important to adhere to the following rules:
- It is advisable to complete spring planting work before mid-late May. A later planting is undesirable, as the flowers get sick for a long time and endure the transplant process more difficult.
- Summer planting has a negative effect on plants.
- In autumn, all work must be completed at least 1-1,5 months before the expected frost.
When transplanting clematis in the spring, the condition of the planting material is of great importance. If you purchased seedlings with an open root system, then the flowers should be planted as soon as possible.
But if you managed to purchase plants in containers (containers or flower pots), the root system of which is in a nutrient soil mixture, then you can plant clematis in the ground in the spring even after a couple of weeks, when the weather is fine outside. In this case, the flowers are grown at home, and as soon as the right time comes, they are planted in the ground. During rearing, it is necessary to regularly monitor the soil moisture in the planting containers and prevent it from drying out.
It is undesirable to be late with planting clematis in open ground in the spring, but one should not rush. Spring return frosts can nullify all your work.
Clematis planting process
The process of planting clematis in the spring does not take much time and effort compared to the preparatory work.
The minimum dimensions of the planting pit are 60X60X60 cm. Such large dimensions are due to the fact that subsequently the plants will grow in one place without a transplant for quite a long time. And your task is to provide the root system of clematis with the necessary nutrients.
When planting clematis in rows, it is desirable to prepare a trench, the width and depth of which are also at least 60 cm. The distance between the nearest bushes should be at least 1-1,5 meters. A closer landing is undesirable, as the vines grow rapidly and strongly. In just a couple of years, they will have to fight with each other for a place in the sun, which will immediately affect the flowering of clematis.
Arrangement of planting pits or trenches with drainage is a mandatory procedure when planting clematis in the spring from a container or from a purchased pot. In whatever form you purchase the plant, drainage is a must. As a drainage layer, you can use pebbles, broken bricks, expanded clay.
The planting algorithm will look like this:
- After arranging the drainage at the bottom of the landing trench or pit, it is necessary to make a slight elevation.
- On this mound you need to place a flower. If you purchased clematis in pots or containers, then before planting the plant correctly, it must be removed from the container and placed on a raised platform along with a clod of earth.
- If you plant clematis with an open root system, then the roots are neatly straightened and located on a hill. Proper planting implies that the rhizomes should be located freely, without bending.
- Pay attention to the basal neck of flowers. It should be located at the level of the soil surface or a few centimeters below. It is undesirable to deepen the base strongly, otherwise it is possible to provoke the occurrence of a plant disease, and, as a result, the death of the entire bush.
- Fill the holes with earth, gradually compacting it with your hands. It is not necessary to compact the soil strongly.
- Abundant watering after planting or transplanting clematis in the spring to another place and shading on hot days are mandatory activities.
Make sure that the spring rains do not flood your flowers too much.
How to transplant and plant flowers
Of course, clematis can grow without a transplant for more than twenty years. However, it is still desirable to plant large bushes at least once every 5-7 years. The soil under the bushes becomes scarce over time, nutrients become less and less. The root system is growing, so you need to update the flowers without fail.
It is better to plant or transplant clematis in the spring, when the weather is warm enough outside. The optimal planting time is the end of April – the beginning of May. In the northern regions of the country, this period may be shifted by 1-2 weeks later. In autumn, flower bushes can be planted until mid-late September.
It is advisable to transplant adult clematis in early spring or autumn after flowering.
More details about how and when to transplant clematis to another place.
Flower aftercare
Proper care of clematis after planting in the spring is the key to abundant and lush flowering. It consists in carrying out the usual and familiar to every grower standard events:
- moderate and timely watering;
- loosening;
- garter and mulching;
- feeding and processing;
- pruning and preparing flowers for winter.
Watering and loosening
During the first year after planting clematis, watering should be frequent, but not too plentiful. During this period, flowers build up the root system and vines. Therefore, the plant needs a lot of strength for active growth.
However, it is impossible to overfill the plantings with water, so as not to create conditions for the occurrence of fungal and putrefactive diseases of the rhizomes. It is enough to water the plants no more than 2-3 times a week, spending 3-5 liters of water per bush. The main thing is that the soil under the clematis bushes is always moist.
It is advisable to loosen the soil after each watering so that the clematis roots receive a sufficient amount of oxygen. 3-4 months after planting, loosening can be abandoned, since there is a high risk of injury to the growing root system.
Garter and mulching
Gradually growing shoots are tied to a support as they grow to form a bush and prevent young branches from breaking off. If the shoot is single, you can pinch the top to push the flowers to tillering.
Clematis respond well to mulching. This event will protect the flower garden from weeds, reduce the rate and schedule of watering. After all, under a layer of mulch, the soil remains moist much longer.
You can mulch the soil under the bushes 7-10 days after planting clematis in the spring in open ground, when the first signs appear indicating that the flower has taken root. The maximum thickness of the mulching layer is 5-7 cm.
In autumn, the old layer of mulch can be carefully embedded in the soil, and a new layer can be laid on top of the ground, thus preparing the plant for winter.
Top dressing and processing
Top dressing is an important step in caring for clematis in the spring. If the planting work was carried out in accordance with the recommendations described above, then in the first year there is no need to feed the flowers.
But starting from the second year, it is necessary to provide the plants with regular replenishment of nutrients. Indeed, during the period of violent flowering, clematis needs a lot of strength, and your task is to fill the balance of the missing elements.
In spring, clematis is fed with nitrogen-based fertilizers. Before flowering, you can feed the flowers with fertilizers based on phosphorus and potassium.
Lomonos responds well to watering the soil under the bushes with lime milk. This composition well deoxidizes acidic soil.
Feed clematis necessary in accordance with the recommendations of experienced flower growers.
After planting in spring and early summer, young, non-lignified shoots of clematis can attract insects that cause irreparable harm to flowers. Therefore, it is advisable to regularly monitor the plants and, if pests appear, take immediate action.
Pruning vines and preparing the plant for winter
Pruning is one of the stages of mandatory care for clematis after planting in open ground. In spring and summer, regular pruning is carried out, which allows the formation of bushes.
You can use this simple event to make the plant bush. You can use pruning to direct the vines in accordance with your imagination in a certain direction. Pruning also helps induce earlier and more abundant flowering.
In autumn, at the end of flowering, the vines are cut according to the recommendations for each variety. Some varieties do not need pruning, and for some, all vines are cut in the fall at the root.
In the spring, when you open clematis, it will be possible to carry out sanitary pruning of vines. During this period, frozen, old, dried and damaged shoots are removed. It is advisable to carry out this event when the buds are already swollen and it will be clear which shoots need to be removed and which ones can be left.
You will learn how to plant clematis in the spring from the video clip.
Conclusion
So, you have learned when and how to plant clematis in the spring in open ground. As you can see, the landing process does not require special skills or abilities. All that is required is to follow the recommendations of experienced flower growers. And the reward for your work and care will be an unusually luxurious and abundant flowering of clematis – to your joy and pride, to others to surprise.