Late season pruning of clematis is not recommended in areas which
experience cold winters. Any unexpected warm spell will encourage new
growth which will certainly be killed by the cold spell that follows.
So resist the temptation to tidy up the clematis tangles in the
fall...wait until Spring. All clematis flowering comes from new wood
growth. I would however trim off any "broken or cracked" growth in the
fall. Otherwise, in the spring cut back to 24-36".
GL
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> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I know it's early to talk about fall clean
> up. Every year my Explorer rose and two clematis vines become all tangled
> up. I'm okay with this during the summer but in the spring it looks
> terrible and I have been cutting them all back to within two-three feet of
> the ground. This doesn't seem to hurt either the rose or the clematis as
> they basically do a repeat growth pattern each year. My question is will
> it do any harm to the plants if I do this cutting back in late fall when the
> garden is shutting down for winter instead of in the
> spring? </FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>
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