• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to footer

Garden Making

Inspiring ideas and information for great home gardens

  • Design
  • Containers
  • Food
  • Gardens to visit
    • British Columbia
    • Alberta
    • Manitoba
    • Ontario
    • Quebec
    • New Brunswick
    • Nova Scotia
    • Newfoundland
    • England
    • U.S.
  • Events Calendar
    • By organizing group
    • By location of events
    • In British Columbia
    • In Alberta
    • In Saskatchewan
    • In Manitoba
    • In Ontario
    • In Quebec
    • In New Brunswick
    • In Nova Scotia
    • In Prince Edward Island
    • In Newfoundland & Labrador
    • Local garden tours
    • Plant sales across Canada
    • Outside Canada
    • Form to list your event
  • Reader photos
    • Reader images of gardens
    • Container gardening images
    • Reader images of plants in 2019
    • Reader images of plants in 2018
    • Reader images of plants in 2017
    • Reader images of plants in 2016
    • Submit photo to Garden Making
  • Shop
You are here: Home / Making a Garden / Making more clematis supports

Making more clematis supports

By Judith Adam Filed Under: Making a Garden, Plants

Clematis Marie-Boisselot (Photo by Brendan Zwelling)
Clematis Marie-Boisselot (Photo by Brendan Zwelling)

I’m up to my old tricks, trying to get clematis to weave itself into supports that are less than traditional. Each year I’m faced with the same challenge. Finding myself without enough of the usual lightweight trellis devices, and entirely without fences, I’m letting necessity be the mother of invention. The clematis vines have been jolted awake by the recent warm days, and are coming up gangbusters. They’re already extending new stems and leafy tendrils in search of an anchoring perch, and a few plants are carrying early flower buds.

So, what to do? My ‘Marie Boisselot’ clematis is quite vigorous and always carries lush cascades of white flowers lasting for six to eight weeks. It’s growing on a metal support only five feet (1.5 m) tall, and that’s barely half the height this vine needs. In the past, I’ve inserted seven-foot (2-m) bamboo canes to extend the height, though these were still inadequate. Surveying the garage for possible new materials, a nice pile of nested tomato cages presented itself. I’ve wired two of these tomato cages to the top of the metal support and — presto! — I have a significantly taller climbing device for clematis vines. It will even be possible to attach a couple 12-inch (30-cm) -square pieces of chicken wire to the cages, providing further anchorage for those grasping tendrils. Go ahead and laugh, but this is going to work.

And I’m not finished yet. A limber pine (Pinus flexilis ‘Vanderwolf’s Pyramid’, Zone 4) growing by the front steps has an open structure that doesn’t cast shade. This tree is a perfect stage for scampering vines, but hasn’t enough interior twigs to give grasping points for clematis. I’ve solved this problem by discreetly inserting small trellis constructions made from found twigs and thin bamboo canes, providing anchorage for the clematis planted at the base of the tree. (These are the same supports that were in the clematis pots when purchased.) Okay, admittedly it looks a bit like lackluster Christmas decorations someone forgot to put away, but this week the vines will be all over those little trellises, and the tree will be full of flowers for a couple of months. You can’t beat that.

Published: May 8, 2013 | Updated: February 5, 2019

About Judith Adam

Judith Adam is a horticulturist, landscape designer and author of several best-selling gardening books, including Landscape Planning. She lives in Toronto.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Patricia Beurteaux says

    May 20, 2013 at 6:46 pm

    I have clematis shoots growing all over the ground surrounding the parent plant. There are dozens. Can I transplant them (now late May – Northern Hastings County) or do I leave them as is (which means they will have no support)?

    I have never seen this before and am flummoxed.

    Reply
  2. Graham F. Guzman says

    May 18, 2013 at 6:52 am

    Hello, Debbie: There are many vines and some are more aggressive than others, but ideally we do not want any vine climbing to the top of our trees. If the maples are healthy to begin with it should not be much of a problem, but they will compete for sunlight and nutrients. This can make photosynthesis a challenge and the health of the trees will decline if this is an issue. The maples have a much more extensive root system than the vine and will always win when it comes to moisture. So to answer your question, no, the vine is not living off of the tree but it is using it as a source to climb and reach for sunlight. Since the vine is all the way to the top of your maple it may be difficult to get it all out depending on how tall your trees are. Cutting it back and digging up the roots is the only way to get rid of the vine without damaging the tree. Continuously cutting it back may eventually kill the vine due to lack of sunlight but digging up the roots will ensure that the vine is removed. Avoid spraying since this will damage your maple trees.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Footer

Search

Reader submissions

  • Enter draw to win a prize
  • Form to list your event
  • Submit photo to Garden Making

Garden Making magazine

  • Buy magazine back issues
  • Garden Making list of magazine issues
  • Garden Making index of magazine articles

When you’re looking for

  • Books for gardeners
  • Containers in your garden
  • Design
  • Food to grow
  • Gardens to visit
  • Growing from seed
  • How to
  • Plant ideas
  • Tips for gardeners

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

We do not share emails. Your information will be used as outlined in our Privacy Policy.

Please look for our email. You must click on the link in the email to confirm. Check your inbox or spam folder.

Copyright © 2021 Inspiring Media Inc. | GARDEN MAKING is a registered trademark | About | Service | Terms of use | Privacy policy | Account