These wonderful climbing plants are able to decorate any personal plot. Due to the variety of shapes and colors, everyone will find for themselves exactly the flower that he will like. The article will talk about clematis. Landing, care, a brief description of the groups - all this information will be presented below.
General information, description
The cultivation of clematis is a process that has its own subtleties and nuances. They are not too capricious, but if certain conditions are not met, they can die. A charming plant will definitely reward the owners with lush flowering, if it feels comfortable.
This plant, also called a clematis, or a slit, belongs to the family Ranunculaceae. In total, the genus includes about three hundred species, and many of them are very different from each other. It can be both herbaceous plants and shrubs, but for the most part clematis are curly flowers, creepers. In nature, representatives of this genus grow in the temperate and subtropical latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere.
The description of clematis indicates that the root system in different species can be fibrous or pivotal. The stems of the new season are usually thinner and have a light green color. In grassy species, they are round, in woody species, they have pronounced faces.
I also distinguish between bush and climbing varieties. Both of them have bright flowers, which can be of different sizes, terry or non-terry, but in any case they have high decorativeness and are readily grown by florists around the world. Clematis flowers can have different colors: white, blue, red, purple, pink.
Plant classification
The classification of clematis is rather confusing. According to the latest, the newest (simplified), they are divided into only three groups - according to the flowering methods and pruning resulting from them:
those that bloom on the shoots of last year (without pruning or weak),
on both (strong);
on the shoots of the current season (moderate pruning).
The first group includes, for example, species such as alpine, mountainous, coarse. The second group includes large-flowered hybrids, for example, such a popular clematis variety as Countess Of Lovelace. This is a charming purple hybrid with large (up to 15 centimeters) double flowers that bloom in April. With repeated flowering, in August, they are not so large, and either non-double or slightly terry. The same group includes the popular blue clematis - Multi Blue. The third group includes, for example, varieties from the Viticella group. Violet clematis Ville De Lyon, Etoile Violette is very popular. These are old French clematis varieties, still in demand among gardeners due to abundant flowering.
The group is usually indicated by the seller - for example, on a package with seeds.
General care requirements
Watering should be regular and deep, at least once a week, and in the heat - two to three times. As with any other flowers, you need to regularly loosen the soil and remove weeds. Clematis is fed in the growing season, starting from the second year of life. In the first year they do not need to be fed. In the spring it is recommended to water them with milk of lime. So they call a suspension of dolomite flour, chalk (for a 10-liter bucket of water - 200-300 grams).
In May, it is good to use ammonium nitrate or organics - mullein, chicken droppings. One tablespoon of saltpeter is added to the bucket. Mullein and litter, respectively, are bred in a ratio of 1:10 and 1:15. One bucket of water is used per plant.
It should be remembered that top dressing for clematis should be liquid.
Special conditions
For curly clematis in the garden, you need to create certain conditions. It is necessary to make supports for future plants from 1 to meters high. In specialized stores there is a large selection of such products, so it is easier to purchase ready-made supports, but you can do them yourself. It is only necessary to understand that they will be entwined with curly shoots only in the middle of summer, therefore they should be quite beautiful. It is better if they can be cleaned for the winter.
Overgrown lashes should be tied up every few days to prevent damage.
Breeding
There are several ways to propagate these plants. For the first time they are usually bought in the form of seedlings. But clematis growing in the garden can be propagated independently. To do this, use several methods. You can take layering plants, divide the bush into several parts, or you can pin the shoots.
Nailing is done in spring. Florists recommend deepening into the ground near clematis in the garden pots with nutritious loose substrate mixed with peat. They pin the last year's shoots in the nodes. They fill up the soil as it settles. Next year, new seedlings will grow from them.
You can only share bushes that are no more than 6-7 years old. Later, due to the powerful root system, this will be difficult to do, since it is very easy to damage it during transplantation. The bushes are dug up and divided into parts by a sharp secateurs. On the root neck of each of them should be kidneys.
Reproduction of clematis in the garden with autumn layers has its own nuances. In autumn, their entire faded part should be cut, leaving a well-developed bud untouched. The remaining shoots are tied and laid at the bottom of the prepared groove, pouring a layer of peat under it and on it. Sprinkle plants on top of the ground and cover well for the winter. In spring, abundant watering begins. When the first sprouts appear, the soil is mulched. In autumn, young plants can be transplanted.
To obtain layering in the summer, use the so-called vertical method. To do this, take a box without a bottom, with one wall, and put it on top of the plant. The growing clematis is carefully sprinkled with earth. It is necessary to ensure that two well-developed buds remain on the surface, otherwise growth will stop. By autumn, new shoots can be planted.
Clematis can also be grown from seeds. But this method takes a very long time. Plants can only emerge after a year, or even two. Therefore, the methods described above are more often used. Clematis seedlings grown from seeds are planted in the soil in June, but a pit for it must be prepared in the fall, as described below.
Planting seedlings. Soil requirements
Planting is carried out in autumn or spring. If in the fall, after the acquisition of seedlings, the cold set in, you can not plant the plants, but dig them up until spring, covering them with earth. You can also store them until spring in a cool room, such as a cellar. The temperature should not exceed + 5 degrees Celsius. To preserve the roots, they are covered with a mixture of peat and sand.
It should be borne in mind that clematis, the planting of which is delayed until spring, can grow even in the cellar. They withstand frosts down to -6 degrees Celsius (and the Siberian clematis - even up to -30). Gardeners recommend pinching seedlings to restrain their growth. After planting in the spring, for the first time, they must be properly shaded to protect the delicate stems.
If seedlings were purchased in containers, then summer is also considered an appropriate time for their transplant. Plants should be reloaded to a new place with a lump of land. The root neck is buried in the ground by about 8 centimeters.
Before planting, you must choose a suitable place for the plant. Clematis does not tolerate waterlogging, so lowlands should be avoided. If the whole site is located in the lowland, it is necessary to fill a small hill. The cultivation of clematis on waterlogged soils is impossible: the plant will simply die, as its roots rot. They reach a length of more than a meter, and groundwater should not be too close.
When planting on clay soil, it is additionally required to construct a drainage groove to remove excess moisture that is covered with sand. In the pit itself measuring 60 x 60 x 60 centimeters, it is imperative to construct a drainage about 15 centimeters thick. A layer of fertile soil with humus is laid on top. Gardeners advise to add 200 g of lime and 150 g of superphosphate to it.
Experts recommend that all activities be done to prepare the soil in the garden for clematis a year before they are planted. In this case, she will have time to settle and neutralize.
Pruning
Depending on the characteristics of flowering, there are three groups of clematis with different pruning needs. Traditionally they are called groups A, B and C.
The first, or group A, includes plants that produce flowers on the shoots of last year (sometimes sparse flowering occurs on young shoots). They need to cut off only the generative part for the winter, as well as weak shoots.
The second, or group B, combines varieties that bloom on young and last year's shoots. Therefore, they must be cut twice. The first pruning is carried out in the summer, after the first flowering in May - June on the shoots of the previous year. At the same time, their generative part is removed. The second time the vine is cut in the fall, before covering the plant for the winter. If you want the plant to bloom early in the spring, remove only the generative part of the shoots of the current year. You can delete the entire shoot or crop it to the first sheet. In this case, the plant will be less dense, and flowering more uniform.
The third group, or C, unites plants that give flowers on the young shoots of the current year. They bloom from mid-July to mid-October. For these clematis, gardening involves trimming the entire shoot, to the base or to the first leaf.
Features of shelter for the winter
Protecting these plants from winter cold, it must be understood that they are not so much afraid of severe frosts as a combination of cold and moisture and subsequent icing. Therefore, when covering clematis bush or climbing for the winter, this should be taken into account. It is very important that the plants remain dry in the winter. For this reason, gardeners do not recommend covering clematis with sawdust, which accumulate moisture and freeze for a very long time in spring. Because of this, it will be impossible to remove the shelter from clematis early, which will aggravate the situation. After all, they need to be freed from protection in the spring quickly so that the plants do not become barred.
Experienced gardeners recommend constructing the following structure for the winter. On the shoots after trimming, it is necessary to pour dry leaves. Wooden shields are placed on top of them, under which several bricks must be placed so that they do not crush plants, sinking under the weight of snow. A plastic film is spread over the shields.
Flowering on the shoots of overwintered clematis, as a rule, begins 20-30 days earlier than on young ones.
Disease
The clematis plant becomes sick most often as a result of improper care. The most common diseases are fungal: gray rot, powdery mildew, rust. The first of them is manifested by brown spots on the leaves, the second - a gray coating, the third - spores of the color of rust. If there are signs of damage, diseased plants must be uprooted and burned, and healthy ones should be treated for prevention: in the first two cases, with “Azocene” or “Fundazole”, and in case of damage with rust, with Bordeaux liquid, or with fungicides “Oksikh”, “Polikh”.
Pests
The most common pests of clematis are slugs and aphids. With the first they fight, constructing special traps. To do this, lay straw around the plants, or boards, pieces of roofing felt, etc. Slugs are taken inside the shelters, and after a few days they can be collected.
Effective folk remedies can be used to combat aphids. One of them is liquid soap. To prepare it, the soap is finely grated and dissolved in water based on half a liter of water - two teaspoons. They process the whole plant, from top to bottom. For greater efficiency, you can add 1-2 cloves of garlic, pre-chopping them.
Plants can be affected by nematodes - very small roundworms. This pest is very dangerous, because most of its species affects the roots, and infection becomes noticeable when the plant begins to lag behind in growth. In the absence of timely assistance, it may die.
To avoid worm infection, carefully inspect the planting material. At the slightest suspicion, the roots should be washed with hot water (at least +50 degrees Celsius). From a nematode already entered into the site, it is very difficult. Affected plants will have to be destroyed.
The soil where sick clematis grew should be shed well with hot water. The same operation must be repeated before the next planting of the plant in this place.
On plants, insects, bugs can also parasitize, and mice and rats can eat up the roots.
On a note
Here are some tips from experienced gardeners:
At the age of 3-7 years, plants have the greatest decorativeness. After that, their roots grow to a depth of up to 70 centimeters, and fertilizers and irrigation water already come to them with difficulty. Because of this, the flowers become smaller. It is recommended to dig several pots with holes around the bush and water through them. Water in this case will not spread, but goes straight to the roots.
Gardeners advise planting marigolds and calendula near clematis. They emit substances that repel plant pests. In addition, their bushes will help protect clematis roots from heat.
- You should not plant clematis at solid fences (for example, from corrugated board) in those regions where the summer is very hot. According to flower growers, this can lead to the death of plants, which are almost "in the oven" and begin to fade. For this purpose, a mesh or forged fence is suitable. Otherwise, it is better to plant plants near the supports. The same goes for the walls of houses. Do not direct clematis directly at them. Between them and plants, at a distance of 30 centimeters from the wall, you need to install supports, and already near them to plant flowers. This is also important in order to avoid water dripping onto them from the roof, which in the cold season can lead to flooding of flowers and their further death.
Finally
The article briefly presented the rules for the care of clematis in the garden - their planting, reproduction, watering, pruning. The most popular species and varieties were mentioned. We hope that the material will be useful, and your clematis in the landscape design of the garden will take their rightful place.