I have an old (no idea how old), lovely clematis (Montana, I believe)
that toppled when the 5' tree stump that was supporting it finally gave
way in the wind. It's main stem is about 2" in diameter.

We're hoping to save it, building a trellis to support it.

The main problem is that it is hugely overgrown, leaving lots of
tangled, dead-looking vines in the wintertime. So we're hoping to
somehow rejuvenate it as we re-support it. It's also not obvious how we
might transfer the giant tangle onto a new trellis.

Any suggestions of how to proceed? We're wondering if it will survive a
severe pruning at this time of year (blossoms disappeared a month or so
ago). If so, we might try cutting it back to 5 or six large vines that
we can wind onto the trellis.

tia,
Rob

"Rob Barrett" <fumanchu314159265 [at] yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:e9q6st$gcb$1 [at] news.freedom2surf.net...
>I have an old (no idea how old), lovely clematis (Montana, I believe) that
>toppled when the 5' tree stump that was supporting it finally gave way in
>the wind. It's main stem is about 2" in diameter.
>
> We're hoping to save it, building a trellis to support it.
>
> The main problem is that it is hugely overgrown, leaving lots of tangled,
> dead-looking vines in the wintertime. So we're hoping to somehow
> rejuvenate it as we re-support it. It's also not obvious how we might
> transfer the giant tangle onto a new trellis.
>
> Any suggestions of how to proceed? We're wondering if it will survive a
> severe pruning at this time of year (blossoms disappeared a month or so
> ago). If so, we might try cutting it back to 5 or six large vines that we
> can wind onto the trellis.
>
> tia,
> Rob

I had the same problem a couple of years back, just cut back to the main
stem, get rid of all the tangled bits and bobs, put in your new supports for
next year and about April ( depends where you live ) you may have to get out
there early and train them to go up there new trellis.
It worked for me.

Harry