There are many ways to do this. I feed twice a year with a good fertilizer like Rose Food and mulch at the same time with chicken manure mixed into other compost.

Katie

katie is right - there are many ways to approach this and no single correct answer.

First, it is important to remember that when growing anything in the ground (containers are very different), fertilizing is never a requirement. Fertilizers are intended only to supplement soil nutrients that may be deficient or lacking. They are not really "food" - plants manufacture their own food through photosynthesis, utilizing these soil nutrients, sunlight and water. And if you've taken the time to improve your soil and add organic matter - usually through some form of a mulch - on a regular basis, you may never need to apply additional fertilizer. But not everyone has great soil and not everyone mulches regularly with a good organic mulch and so many DO resort to annual fertilization.

Some clarification of terms may be in order :-) Compost is decomposed organic matter - plant or animal refuse. Most homemade compost is recycled garden trimmings and vegetative kitchen scraps. One can also purchase commercial compost, often from recycled yard waste. But there may be other, not so well-defined ingredients included as well. Manure is just that - animal manure. It is generally recommended that one stick to manures from herbivores. Manure can be fresh, aged or composted. Aged or composted manure is best and if you are growing edibles, composted manure is the safest with regard to any pathogens. And if you are making your own compost, there is no reason you can't add any appropriate manure to the mix as well, if you have it available.

In my old garden, I spent many years and a lot of effort improving my soil and I mulched regularly with compost. I never used any fertilizers because there was no need - the plants got all the nutrients they needed for good, healthy growth and flowering from the soil. I also had rabbits as pets and I did use their manure for various plants that now and again looked like they could use a boost; roses primarily but sometimes lilies and clematis as well. Because of the heavy flowering capacity of these plants, they tend to have heavier nutrient demands than many other plant types. Any annuals or harvestable crops like veggies would benefit from this approach as well.

If I were to use fertilizers (and my new garden may very well require some), I'd stick to organic ones as they nourish the soil. And too many different products can be confusing and can lead to over-fertilizing which is far more common and potentially far more damaging than not fertilizing at all. In your situation, I'd go with the rose fertilizer and mulch with compost, either from garden waste or well-composted manure or a combo of the two. That should be all your clematis ever needs.