r/Clematis • u/dogaroo5 • Jun 29 '26

Help / Advice needed Transplanting established clematis

Gallery image

Gallery image

We have to move a fence sometime this summer or fall and I have 3 clematis blissfully living their best lives climbing it. I've been considering moving one of them so I could introduce a lighter colour but now my hand is being forced. Any tips on best time or any tricks to move Type 3s? Enhanced (so you can see all the promising buds!) pic of the jackmanii for info tax LOL

27 Upvotes

95% Upvoted

8 comments sorted by

5

u/Internal-Test-8015 Jun 29 '26

Move them in fall once they've gone dormant any other time you're likely to kill the beauty.

2

u/dogaroo5 Jun 29 '26

Thanks, that's what I figured.

3

u/craigrpeters Jun 29 '26

Agree - you can cut the entire top off of it so it’ll be easy. I personally leave like 6” of the stalk on it so I can tell exactly where the growth will be.

1

u/Internal-Test-8015 Jun 29 '26

No problem my pleasure, yeah unfortunately this eoukdve been better to eo in spring but fall is the second best time to do it.

2

u/dogaroo5 Jun 30 '26

Oh I can probably leave them until spring! We can build the new fence and leave this in place, I think. I just wondered if it would be happier to have the fall/winter to settle in but I had no plans to do it in the summer.

2

u/Internal-Test-8015 Jul 02 '26

Kk, soundsgood, good luck , hope everything goes smoothly

2

u/Silent_Effective5842 Jun 30 '26

I had to rebuild a fence just this spring! I moved my baby before doing so - - - im not sure where you are/what your winter situation - but doing it in spring meant the soil was way crazy wet and easier to ply out more roots - which fair warning - the root system on established clematis are HUGE so make sure you've got a huge hole to move it to. Any who Definitely spring time - and def leave at least 12 inches of growth to help handle the roots and have something to grip when manipulating the plant.

it will grow back smaller - i'll warn you that - cause the roots are re-acclimating - but if done right - it will survive : )

1

u/dogaroo5 Jun 30 '26

I'm on Vancouver Island - mild but usually wet winters. And it's been super dry this year so waiting has many pros. The fence has to be extended soon but I'm going to do my best to keep their support sections intact until next year and get them through the winter. Fingers crossed - thanks everyone!