My Clematis Part 1

I have a clematis plant. It came with the place where I live. A clematis is a flowering vine. There are different kids of them and they have different characteristics. This particular type of clematis needs to be cut right back in the fall. Come the spring it sprouts and grows large as if it were a brand new plant.

About two years ago I built a new trellis for the clematis. I got a long strip of wood about 1/4" x 3/4". I cut it into 18" length pieces and drilled five evenly spaced 3/8" holes in each piece. Then I took some sisal rope and constructed a trellis.

The trellis did a pretty good job but it didn't fare well in the weather. I wanted the wood to weather after which I would varnish it. The wood weathered to a nice grey. The sisal rope, which is a natural fibre didn't do so well. It perished in places and the trellis got to looking very ratty.

I took it all down and cut away all the old rope. Then I got some 3/16" braided nylon rope. I put two coats of Varathane on the slats. I went against the instructions. I wiped off the slats but beyond that I did not clean or sand them first. Then I took the rope and the slats and made a new trellis. It turned out much better than my first effort.

Here are the rope and the weathered but as yet unvarnished slats.

This and the two pictures that follow show the slats and rope assembled and in place.

The trellis went up on May 1, 2013.

This went up just in time. I had to wait until the temperature got warm enough to put the Varathane on the slats as I did it outside to avoid fumes. That took two days. As you can see the clematis has just sprouted.

This and the next picture show the clematis one day after the trellis went up. I have put two cups of granulated vine fertilizer around the base of the clematis and watered it in. At this stage I will water the plant every day as the continuous water will improve its growth.

Garden critters like that turtle help the plants grow. They keep the moisture in the ground underneath them.

This was taken on May 3, 2013. The following pictures were taken each day up to May 13, 2013.

After practicing the knot about four times I tied a bowline around the stalks on the plant that were flopping and in turn tied that to the railing for support. When they finally grab onto something I'll remove the rope.

The temperature this day and the day before was very cold. The plant grew but the growth was much slower than it was when it was hotter.

 
I will be taking pictures of this daily for a while, at least until the clematis reaches its full growth. Part 2 of this should come in about ten to twelve days from now.