I'm no expert on clematis, but I have about 30 of them (including lots of Jackmanii), so I will tell you what I do.

Mine are planted about 6-8 inches away from the fence. I dig a big hole--maybe 1.5 ft wide and deep--and mix in humus in the soil. Then I carefully insert the plant with the plant stems buried several inches in the soil, fill up the hole with soil, and water really well. That's about it.

My understanding is that you shouldn't feed it until it has experienced significant growth.

The tricky part of planting the clem is if it comes in a pot. Kinda tricky turning that pot upside down and carefully letting it slide out without the rootball falling all apart. Try not to disturb the rootball if you can--but it usually gets disturbed for me. Careful of the roots--they can break off very easily.

If the plant is bareroot and has lots of long tangled roots, you might need to very carefully untangle them a bit, especially if they are curling in a tight circle. Otherwise, don't worry about it.

If it is a tiny little starter, you might want to plant it in a pot first, then transplant it into the ground several months later. I never buy those tiny ones, so I'm not sure how necessary this step is. Clem gardeners argue back and forth on this.

After you plant it, keep an eye on it. You don't want it to dry out, but you don't want to drown it either. At any rate, it will need some additional moisture unless it rains regularly where you live.

Last bit of advice: don't be in a rush to see it bloom. It may or may not the first year. It may even appear to die back the first year--then reappear the following season. The truism is that the first year it sleeps, the second year it creeps, the third year it leaps.

You're going to love your Jackmanii, but remember to practice PATIENCE with it.

Kate

I disagree about not disturbing the root ball. I know some people shudder at the thought of messing with the root ball, but it's better to not plant roots that are encircling the root mass. I was sort of rough with a clematis that I recently transplanted that wasn't growing very well for the last couple of years. I dug it up and banged it in the ground like you do with transplanting hosta. I put it into a good hole, water it, and it proceeded to grow almost before my eyes as if it needed the roughing up. :)

Thank you for sharing how you plant your clematis. It really helps me a lot. It has 2 long stems. Am I suppose to prune it back after planting? When you do feed yours, what do you give it and when? Thanks

I to disagree with not disturbing the root ball. I planted a 4 year old Ms. Bateman last year after she had been in a pot for 4 years and when I dug her a hole in the ground to plant her in I totally disturbed her root ball which was huge. I even cut off some of the roots and spreaded what was left of them out in the hole I had dug for her. All the distrubing didn't phase her the least bit. This year she is close to 8 foot high and done flopped back down over herself. The root ball was such a tangled mess within the five gal pot she had been in for 4 years thought felt the roots needed to be loosen up before I planted her. Sandy

I disturb the roots of every single plant that I plant in my garden. If I can't pull them apart I cut them. I cut any that circle the pot completely off.

Make sure you plant your Clematis deeper in the ground than it is in the pot and I would cut those two vines back.

Use a gentle fertilizer like well rotted cow manure or organic rose food on it.

BuyorSell...Can you please tell me why you would cut the two stems back? Reasoning? also how far down the stem should I cut them? It looks like there are buds at the top. Are you suggesting I cut those off? That sounds kinda scary to me. lol Thank you for helping me.

My comment about not disturbing the rootball any more than necessary refers only to potted clems with under-developed root systems--very common in the potted clems sold at garden centers in this area. But please note that I also said to disturb the roots that are well-developed and circling around each other. Two different cases--I was trying to cover all the options I have personally run into.

The reason I would trim back the clem to about 1 ft (or less) is so that the plant will concentrate on settling in and developing its root system. And trimming back often spurs the plant to put out more vines--so you will hopefully have more than just those two vines.

Kate

Last fall I bought 5 young clematis that were growing in 4 inch long pots. I potted them twice since they arrived, once to hold over for winter, and a second time so they had ample room to grow while I moved some clematis around. I stretched out the roots both times and it didn't seem like it slowed down their growth at all.

Some professional growers believe you should remove all nursery potting soil from the root ball before planting. After bare rooting a Henryi that wasn't doing well, and seeing how it has shot up since replanting, I'm starting to believe that too.

Questions: if I dig a hole 1.5 ft wide as mentioned above, how deep should it be? I bought a bag of cured cow manure at Lowe's. Do I mix about a cup of it in with the soil? I don't have clay. I've got good, regular soil. My mail order baby clems came in 2-4" pots. I put them in gallon pots like BorS told me & am planning to plant them when the weather cools in the fall. Just trying to plan ahead. Thanks!

How wide depends on your soil. If it is not hard clay then a foot or so would be fine. I have clay and I dig wider and deeper to break it up. Cup or two manure would be fine.

Pinching/pruning new Clematis encourages more vines up from the crown and root development. Otherwise you can end up with one or two long scraggly vines and few flowers.

Clematis are not instant gratification plants. They normally take several years to get going.

Jackmannii is one that you want to prune down every year as it blooms on new growth. Otherwise you'll end up with bare stems and flowers way up at the top.

BuyorSell: thankyou.
My Jackmanni looks like it has buds at the top. Do I cut those off now? How much do I cut off the stems and where do I make my cut? Thanks again.

If you want to let it flower, go ahead.

Then I'd cut it down to two buds or so.

Buyorsell, thank you for your help. Yes, I'm not even sure if they are leaf buds or flower buds at the very top. I will wait and see what they are before I cut it. When you say cut it down to 2 buds or so, I'm not sure what you mean? Can you please explain because I'm totally clueless.

Cut it down to about a foot tall. The object is to get it to send up more vines from the buried crown.

Okay, do I do the stem now? I went out to look at my clematis and I could see the buds on either side of the stem. I will cut just above them right? Sorry, I really don't mean to ask so many questions. I just want to be sure that I'm am doing this correctly. Thanks again.

If you want to let the flowers bloom you can do so. In your long growing season you have plenty of time to whack afterwards. Relax, it isn't rocket science. ;) Pruning HELPS Clematis, it never hurts them.

Yes, prune above the buds that are on either side of the branches, as low as you find them. Each one will put out two and you should get more up from the crown too.

Buyorsell, you have helped me tremendously. Thank you so much for explaining this to me. That's exactly what I needed...someone to tell me to relax. I was getting a little 'freaked' about 'hacking' it back. It almost sounds like your going at with a machete. lol