By Cookygirl41
mid glamorgan,
United Kingdom 
Can I cut back my clematis montana. The length is about 5 metres, theres loads of growth on the first 2 mtrs but theres just old wood on the rest. Its starting to flower now. Im afraid to cut all the old wood off in case I kill it or it wont flower nxt year.
26 Apr, 2011
Answers
yes theres loads of new shoots lower down at the moment. Right after flowering i
l shall give it a go....Thanks
26 Apr, 2011
If you've got loads of new ones growing up from the base, I wouldn't cut those back - I'd just take out some of the old wood, above the point where the new shoots are.
26 Apr, 2011
Previous question
« I haven't been able to find out what this plant is, does anyone know please?
These plants do develop a large, knarly, woody trunk as they mature. The time to prune these hard is immediately after flowering is finished - you can cut it right down if you want, but I'd be more inclined to cut back all the topgrowth as far as the woody trunk - this will hopefully encourage shoots from lower down.
26 Apr, 2011