Clematis in landscape design

Perhaps the primary and most important purpose of any garden is to be beautiful. Absolutely everyone, going outside their home, wants to see flowering bushes of decorative flowers, from the sight of which even the soul becomes warmer. However, in order to really decorate your garden well, you need to know a few tricks of landscape design. Today we will share with you a couple of such tricks that will help you decorate your site with beautiful and beloved clematis. The topic of the article is clematis in landscape design.

Clematis in landscape design: the benefits of using

And you shouldn't even think about considering clematis in landscape design solely as a lone plant that can perfectly decorate your garden solely on its own. Clematis often look much more striking in compositions in which other plants also take part.

In addition, when buying clematis, you should never limit yourself to just one variety. It would be much better to buy several varieties of seedlings that will bloom at different times. By correctly choosing the timing of flowering of various varieties, you can ensure that this climbing plant will delight you with its beauty throughout the season. And this is given the fact that many varieties are capable of blooming both in early spring and late autumn.

Another big mistake many gardeners make, believing that clematis is a plant that grows, exclusively twisting around a support, like a vine. However, one should never forget that in addition to climbing (large-flowered) clematis, there are also small-flowered ones, the shoots of which do not grow above a meter at all. And they, by the way, are also very actively used in garden decoration.

If you are afraid to get lost in the endless variety of clematis varieties that can be purchased, you are not doing it in vain. At the moment, there are so many of them that it is simply impossible to know everything.

Some varieties were bred back in the nineteenth century, and they are actively used to this day. And some were only bred a couple of years ago, and even so, they have already gained immense popularity. However, in this article we will try to help you choose the most suitable variety that would suit your personal situation.

Clematis varieties for background or single planting in the garden

Photo of Clematis Abundans

As already mentioned, gardeners most often use clematis in landscape design precisely to decorate fences, trellises or gazebos. In addition, clematis vines may well curl along the walls of houses. However, in this case, it is necessary to ensure that water does not drip from the roof onto the plant: it extremely does not like waterlogging.

Naturally, for these purposes we will use large-flowered clematis in landscape design, which are leading in popularity compared to small-flowered ones.

When choosing a variety to create a bright background color spot, it is not the sophistication and elegance of the variety that must be taken into account, but rather the number and brightness of the flowers. After all, no one will consider the bizarre flower shapes "out there in the background." But a large number of simple but bright colors will be visible from afar, and it will look very juicy.

To create a bright color background, you can use clematis in landscape design, such as:

• Abundance
• Birjuzinka
• Comtesse de bouchaud
• Ernest Markham
• Ethica
• Etoile violette
• H. F. Young
• Jackmanii
• Jubileinyi 70
• Kardinal wyszinsky
• Kiew
• Kosmiczeskaja Melodija
• Luther burbank
• Margot koster
• Polish spirit
• Romantika, Ryytel
• Star of india
• The president
• Tuczka
• Victoria
• Ville de lyon
• Viola

Creating a single planting of clematis

Another technique that is now becoming fashionable is planting clematis in a single planting. Or in a small group of two or three bushes. And in this case, it is already worth paying attention to how exquisite the shape of the flowers is, because attention to them will be riveted much more closely, and much more you will want to consider small details.

More often than not, various creative approaches can be used to provide such a variety with a support that will not be distracting with its zero decorative effect. For example, a support in the form of an umbrella will look not only very original, but also very beautiful. You can think of hundreds more interesting solutions, but the most important thing is to make sure that they fit into the general surroundings of the garden.

But even more important is the correspondence of the support you have chosen and the type of clematis that you want to grow on it. The average height should coincide, it is also worth considering the speed at which this or that variety grows. Do not forget that some of them are especially sensitive and cannot stand strong winds.

If you take into account all these important factors and can choose the support that matches them, your site will shine with new colors.

However, otherwise, you can only spoil your experience of growing beautiful clematis. It may well happen that, being grown on a support that is too low for oneself, clematis shoots become entangled, which leads to a deterioration in their decorative effect and splendor of flowering.

But, even if you could not find a good support for the variety of clematis you like, you should not despair. Remember that there are so many varieties that, instead of choosing a support for clematis, you may well choose clematis for your support. In addition, they are all insanely beautiful, so you will not regret your choice in any of the cases.

Clematis in landscape design: the best couples

It is also important to remember that varieties can be combined in single plantings. However, overdoing it too much is a bad idea. Two or three varieties are quite enough, but four is too much. But, in order to correctly select varieties that are in perfect harmony with each other, it is necessary to have a subtle design flair, which is inherent in some to a greater extent, and to some to a lesser extent.

However, in order not to be unfounded, we will give a couple of examples: two varieties of different sizes of flowers will combine very well. Thus, large-flowered clematis will be able to harmonize well with small-flowered clematis, however, only when one of them is somewhat brighter and more expressive than the other. Otherwise, harmony will be disturbed, and your flower bed will look like two different varieties are fighting for your attention. This cannot be allowed.

Perhaps it is worth giving a more specific example that you can easily use in your own garden. Purpurea Plena Elegans has small, creamy pink flowers that are ideal for highlighting other varieties, but not self-planting. But they can emphasize the beauty of such varieties as, for example, Bees Jubilee or Carnaby, which have large, rare, but very expressive and eye-catching flowers.

In this example, we can see how two completely different varieties, together form a perfect tandem, eye-catching.

However, pairs can be made not only from different varieties of clematis. For example, both large-flowered and curly, and small-flowered terry varieties are in very good harmony with lush delicate roses.The main thing is to choose the colors correctly.

Clematis and roses in landscape design - photo

Rose and clematis are a very good pair. Not only do they look incredibly beautiful together, these plants also do not interfere with each other's development, unlike many other pairs. For example, many tall plants planted next to clematis immediately fight for nutrients with it. Rose, on the other hand, lives with clematis in "harmony and harmony"

If you choose this particular pair to decorate your garden, it is worth considering that ordinary arches, fences and gazebos will be the best supports for them. However, they can be used as well as pyramids or steles.

If you do not know which varieties of clematis will make the best company for the rose, refer to the ones below. They will not only look harmonious, but will also have the same flowering period as the rose itself:

• Aljonushka
• Arabella
• Durandii
• Hendersonii
• Juuli
• Alba Luxuriens
• Abundance
• Betty Corning
• Entel
• Little nell
• Mary rose
• Minuet
• Purpurea plena elegans

Also recently it has become very fashionable to plant roses and clematis together in the form of hedges. It is best to use for these purposes those varieties of clematis that do not have to be pruned every year.

If you did not like any of the above varieties, then absolutely any variety belonging to the third pruning group is perfect for the same purposes. For example, almost all clematis of the Viticella species belong to this group, so they will certainly suit you.

Such clematis at the end of the season are completely cut off almost to the root. The cut is made at a height of about 10-20 centimeters above the ground, after which they are covered with compost and covered for the winter. Such clematis bloom on the shoots of the current year, and therefore there is so little trouble with them. However, unfortunately, they are not suitable for creating a hedge.

Clematis and other plants in garden landscaping

In addition to the rose, many different plants can make an excellent company for clematis. Among them, one can distinguish, for example, viburnum, lilac, forsythia or action. All of them, like the rose, will not constitute a competition for clematis, and their inflorescences will harmonize very well with each other.

Other climbing plants also look good with clematis. For example, almost any grape variety can be planted next to clematis. It feeds mostly through photosynthesis, and therefore will not interfere with clematis feeding. Well, the beauty of their tandem, especially when the grapes ripen, is simply impossible to convey in words.

However, if you want to achieve the best combination of grapes and clematis, you need to choose the right variety. And, if you can pick up almost any grape, clematis is better to choose small-flowered or grape-leaved.

Examples of such varieties are the clematis Jouiniana, Praecox, Petit Foucon or rouguchi. Almost all hybrids created from these varieties will also work well.

How to beautifully plant clematis in your garden?

Recently, compositions in which clematis and all kinds of conifers, such as, for example, thuja, are involved, have become incredibly popular. Also, clematis are often planted in the same garden with ornamental shrubs. The cultivation of clematis in the so-called gravel gardens, which are now in great demand, has become equally popular.

Naturally, for such compositions, there are specially bred varieties that fit perfectly into the coniferous-gravel landscape. Among them, one can distinguish, for example, such varieties as:

• Alba
• Rosea
• Blauer aihat
• Olgae
• Pangborne pink

Also in gravel gardens, small-flowered and medium-flowered clematis look very harmonious. There are also a huge number of them: choose any, and it will give you beauty season after season.

Clematis in landscape design - "Knyazhik" variety

This variety has proven itself very well lately.Many even call it one of the best ground cover crops in recent years. And if you want to place it in the shade, it has no equal. And the flowering period of these clematis can be described as ideal. They bloom in May, but they will delight the eye right up to frost.

Until June or (at best) July Knyazhiki will bloom, but during the autumn season they will decorate your garden with their leaves, no less beautiful than the inflorescences, and similar to large fluffy fruits. With their silvery sheen, they even somewhat resemble earrings.

Decorating an old tree with clematis

Decorating an old tree with clematis "Knyazhik"

Also, an excellent use of clematis in landscape design, which we have not previously mentioned, is their almost complete covering of the trunks of old trees. You can even decorate a completely dried tree.

And it is for this task that the Knyazhiki are the best fit. With their small, but numerous flowers, they cover the old trunk and transform it from shame into a real decoration of your site.

Of course, Knyazhiki is not the only variety suitable for this task. Almost any small-flowered clematis can be used instead. Some hybrid varieties are no worse to cope with the task.

Large-flowered varieties for this task, of course, are somewhat less suitable, however, if they bloom lush and abundant enough, they can also be used to decorate an old tree. Although, if it has dried completely, the decoration from large-flowered clematis will look much worse than the same, but from small-flowered.

Growing clematis in containers

Besides the growing popularity of ornamental crops in containers, it is also very convenient. Just think: at any time you can move your clematis almost anywhere, change accents and even the whole composition as a whole.

Ceramic vases and containers are often used for these purposes, however, in fact, this is not the best idea. It's all about the cold. However, the problem is not that a vase is not the best protection against frost. It lies in the fact that the vase itself may well crack from too low temperatures. Therefore, a much more suitable material for creating a container will serve as wood, plastic or even metal.

What is Blossom Conveyor and how to create it on your site?

Unfortunately, many gardeners prefer not to notice small-flowered clematis at all. On the one hand, they can be understood. In the end, large inflorescences in the form of saucers look much prettier and more solid than small flowers. However, these "babies" should not be underestimated at all, because they are, in fact, very beautiful and can be used in a very interesting way, which we will talk about below.

Among the small-flowered clematis, which gardeners may, in principle, not even know about, there are a huge number of very abundantly flowering varieties that can serve as both a background and a full-fledged decorative element. Also, do not forget about the Knyazhiks, whose use is endless, and about all kinds of natural types of clematis.

However, as already mentioned, they all have a very interesting application, which, by the way, will allow you to contemplate the flowering of clematis from May and right up to the cold weather. We are talking about the "Flowering conveyor", and this technique, to tell the truth, is not at all complicated, and absolutely everyone can use it. However, very few people have ever heard of it, and therefore we will gladly tell you everything about it.

The essence of this method is as simple as a penny. It lies in the fact that you select varieties that will grow in your garden in such a way that, as soon as one fades, the flowers of the other will bloom. The planning of such a "Conveyor", of course, will take a lot of time, but the result is definitely worth it.

In order to make it easier for you to navigate, we will give an example of such a "Conveyor":

All kinds of small-flowered clematis and Knyazhiki "launch" a season of more than six months. They begin to bloom at the very beginning of May, and although many gardeners do not consider them beautiful at all, these clematis create a real fabulous entourage in your garden. The flowering of the Princes will end in about two months. And then the following varieties will arrive.

In fact, they will begin to bloom at the end of May, when the season of the Princes is in full swing. One of the first to bloom the straight clematis of the handsome man will bloom until the end of June, and sometimes, if, of course, the weather is favorable, and until mid-July.

When June comes to an end, the nails of our program begin to blossom: large-flowered clematis. Of course, the dates are very inaccurate, because the last verdict about when exactly this or that variety will bloom leaves the weather, which is simply impossible to predict with high accuracy.

However, there are factors that you, unlike the weather, can well influence. These include the moisture and nutrient content of the soil, as well as the light that you provide to your plants.

By the second half of June, all clematis varieties of the third pruning group begin to bloom. Their flowers grow on the shoots of the current year, which is why they bloom later than usual. Also, by this time, almost all purple hybrid varieties of clematis arrive in time.

By mid-July, a real peak in the growth of large-flowered clematis begins: almost all varieties by this time already delight the eye with inflorescences of various shades and sizes. Some of them will maintain flowering until the first frost.

In August, the clematis of the second pruning group are the last to bloom. More precisely, this is their second flowering period. These clematis bloom twice a year: the first time - on the shoots of the previous year in June or July, and the second time - already on the shoots of the current year, but somewhat later - in August. However, sadly, this bloom differs from the first in that it is a little dimmer.

However, if you live in a warm enough climate and you have looked after clematis very well, it is quite possible to achieve almost the same results from the second wave of flowering as from the first. Although, besides your own efforts, you will have to rely on good weather.

All the months remaining until the first cold weather will fade all kinds of large-flowered varieties. If frosts do not come too much, it is quite possible that the last flower will fall not even in September, but already in October. However, again, this depends on very unpredictable factors.

This is exactly how the real "Flowering conveyor" works. This is not to say that creating one in your garden is the simplest task, however, if you try and plan everything well, you can watch a kaleidoscope of small and large, variegated and delicate, double and velvet clematis flowers throughout the warm season and even a little more.

What elements are clematis combined with in landscape design

Recently, summer residents and gardeners have been experimenting more and more with how, where and with what to plant clematis. For example, it has recently become very popular to plant these climbing plants in shrub curbs. In addition, as already mentioned, roses will be able to make a very good company for them there.

The best clematis to plant with roses are those belonging to the Integrifolia species. These clematis are unusual in that they, unlike many of their relatives, do not know how to cling to other plants. However, between the branches of such plants as, for example, roses, they hold very confidently. As you can see, these two flowers complement each other perfectly.

Most often, the flowers of clematis from this group have a rather unusual shape. Many would describe them as a bell or a bell.Their color can be completely different. Any clematis color you can imagine - pink, blue, purple, yellow, red - is definitely represented in this group.

Their flowers, moreover, are not too large, and therefore they ideally fulfill the role of some kind of supplement for roses, which they desperately need. In the end, it is not so interesting to look at a lonely rose bush, rather than at a whole composition, in which not only them, but also clematis take part.

In addition, any other vine or vine can be an excellent addition to clematis when creating, for example, a hedge. Especially harmoniously, as we have already noticed, this plant looks with grapes. Although it is not an ornamental plant, in combination with clematis, grapes perfectly fulfill this function, decorating the garden, especially during the period of fruit ripening.

And, of course, do not forget that, first of all, clematis are climbing plants, and for them you can find a sea of ​​interesting solutions and applications in landscape design. Their number is limited solely by your imagination: lampposts, twisted with vines, walls with vivid drawings of flowers. All this is not only possible, but must be done if you want to make your gardening more enjoyable.

In landscape design, and, in principle, in any design, there is a simple rule: opposites attract. And therefore, we decided to finish our article by presenting you the best of all possible pair for clematis. And these are conifers.

Yes, roses are pretty good if your clematis bush is no more than two meters. However, there are, after all, those whose length reaches not only four, but also five meters. These giants need a matching pair, and needles are the perfect candidate.

Compared to clematis, which looks delicate and fragile, the needles are firm and immovable. These two completely different plants complement each other so well that entire gardens are created on the basis of their tandem. Clematis of the third pruning group look especially good next to the needles. Most often, it is they who make up the thujas and miniature pines in such gardens.

Conclusion

It is not for nothing that Clematis bears the title of one of the most popular ornamental plants. And it's not just about its unpretentiousness and ease of growing. After all, it can perform so many design functions, and, what can we say, it just looks very beautiful. We hope this article helped you, and soon, thanks to clematis, your garden will sparkle with completely new colors.