When you prune them, you'll have to pull the deer fence down, it will come down or tear when pulling off the pruned vines. At least that is what happens to my bird netting.

IMHO wire livestock fencing is the best for Clematis to cling to and also easiest to pull vines down from.

I have used bird netting, twine, wood lattice and chicken wire and none of them are ideal. IF I could do it all over again I would use wire livestock fencing. Unfortunately, DH built me huge trellises and topped our fence with lattice...

This picture was taken at the Rogerson Clematis Collection where they built multiple trellises like this with wooden frames and wire centers. I've also seen the wire stapled to solid wood fences for Clematis and talked to the owners about it. Much more practical than other methods. Cheap too from Feed/farm/ranch stores.

{{gwi:582538}}

Thank you. There are so many choices so hearing from someone who has tried them is great. If I do use the deer fencing I will just throw it away when I cut back and start new every year. If livestock fence will work though and I can pull the vines off then maybe it's more economical to do that. Thank you.

You are welcome. I wish I had known in advance and not struggled so long with the wrong stuff.

I have no idea why my picture doesn't work. It did yesterday and I have not moved nor deleted it from Photobucket. How annoying.