Wonderful climbing plant can bloom for a very long time, many varieties do not fade until the first frost. It is because of this property that most vines can die in late autumn, including clematis. Shelter for the winter, which would provide reliable protection, is the main goal of caring and far-sighted flower growers. What professionals advise about this, read in our article.
The right time to protect
The weakest point of this flower is the basal neck, freezing it leads to the rapid death of the entire plant. Therefore, the shelter of clematis for the winter should be carried out in the fall. The optimal period is considered to be the end of October, and in case of warm weather - the beginning of November. Before the shelter procedure itself, it is necessary to carry out some work with the flower and soil.
- Clematis should be carefully watered.
- The soil around the plant is treated with copper-containing horticultural products - they will protect the flower from mostfungal diseases. To do this, use iron or copper sulfate, according to the instructions given or in a safe 1% concentration. If it’s scary to get involved with poisonous drugs, but you don’t have the necessary experience, you should use a simple solution of potassium permanganate. It should have a soft pink color.
Creating a shelter for a flower
After such procedures, it's time to "hide" clematis. Shelter for the winter is based on proper tillage. First, the earth is carefully dug up, the recent wetting of the plant will help with this. Then the flower is sprinkled with the available soil, while the basal neck must be treated with crushed activated carbon, wood ash or fine sand. The height of the protective mound is 10-15 cm - this should be enough to protect the clematis. Shelter for the winter also involves pruning young shoots that have managed to form on the vines of the current season. This procedure should be carried out with varieties such as Crimson Star, Gypsy Queen, Gray Bird, Victoria, Hope, Mephistopheles and Luther Burbank.
If a plant was planted in accordance with all the required rules, then its buds will definitely be deep in the ground. It is for this reason that clematis shelter is made so that frost does not damage young shoots and future shoots. It is necessary to take into account the following rule - in the spring the vines will need to be carefully freed from snow and dig out the shelter. Otherwise, clematis will germinate earlier than necessary and die in the last frosts of the cold season.
Protection of other vine varieties
There are also varieties that are not pruned before shelter construction - they develop young buds on last year's shoots. Such varieties of this plant include: flowery clematis, sprawling and woolly. Naturally, these varieties require more reliable shelter than pruned species. To protect such clematis, shelter for the winter also begins with hilling, as described earlier. Then they create a support about 12-15 cm high, on which all the shoots are carefully laid.
Next, you need to carefully fix the plant on such a frame with wire arcs and cover everything with pine spruce branches or oat straw. From above, clematis is covered with a thick film or ordinary roofing material, you need to make sure that the wind cannot tear off the protective "roof" of the structure. Often for this it is fixed with stones. Remove all protection at the end of March, usually in the evening or on a cloudy day.
