My Clematis vine is looking puny?

[happygirl]

I planted this vine a year ago last Spring, it didn't do very good at that time, but this spring it took off and grew like crazy, then didn't do anything after a month. It's only had 2 flowers all season, and it's looking stringy or kinda puny, not lush and healthy (I have it growing up a trellis too) and it's planted with part sun and part shade. I've fertilized a few times and give it plenty of water, it looks okay (not dying), but it's not getting very bushy or thick and no flowers, when I fertilized it, I gave it a balanced fertilizer, then a bloom boosting one later. Do I need to amend the soil around it? What can I do to make it better? Please help.

[ranger_co_1_75]

I have two Clematis vines growing in my back yard. The lush vine that is trying to cover the world is located in a spot where it gets plenty of water.

The one that looks stringy and puny is located in a spot where it gets water only a couple of times per week.

Also, different types of Clematis bloom at different times during the season. You may have a vine that has already passed it blooming time.

[daylily]

The other two posters gave good advice, but not the reason for your vine's slow growth. Your vine is normal. Clematis take from 3-4 years to become fully established, and after a spurt in spring, grow slowly the rest of the season until then. There's a saying about clematis: The first year it sleeps, the second it creeps, and the third it leaps. If it looks otherwise healthy, yours will be fine.

One more thing, about pruning: There are three groups of clematis, and they take different pruning times and methods. If they're incorrectly pruned, you can lose an entire season's bloom. You don't say what kind you have, but check online for that kind's group, and prune accordingly. Hope this helps...

[beth.iflorist]

Does any body know how to make homemade wine? Beth [Only registered and activated users can see links. ]

[groundskeeper]

happy girl, I think you got some great advice from the posters above! Aside from the nonsense posting. In my experience clematis do seem to take several seasons to really get going. What kind of medium did you use when you planted it? I would ammend the soil this fall around it and let it work its way through the soil with the aid of rain and snow (depending on where you live). You may also want to start a more aggressive fertilizer regiment of feed-water-water-feed to encourage more vegeatative growth from the plant using a higher growth based fertilizer and when it is blooming switch to a more bloom friendly fertilizer.