Container growing

[robert]

I have a large bland, blank wall, I would love to cover it with an evergeen climber.
I have recently seen a clematus growing in a fairly large container, is this possible and suitable for my purpose?

[gardening_guru]

Hello Robert,

I say Yes, go ahead and have a go. I have seen Clematis before, happily growing in containers. Remember however, that a Clematis is not self clinging, you will have to provide some kind of support for it to twine around. If you do choose a Clematis, plant it about 5cm deeper in the container than you would any other plant, this will encourage new shoots to develop below soil level, necessary if it were to get a bout of clematis wilt (It will be no more susceptible to this disease because it is in a container, you would take the same precautions if you planted a Clematis in the open soil) It would help if the site is sheltered, I don’t know many Clematis that like being battered by strong winds. Fill the top of the container with pebbles or some old slates, anything to try and keep the roots cool. For the best flower display, feed every fortnight during the growing season with balance liquid feed and training the shoots horizontally will also encourage more flowers. I would also suggest ‘top dressing’ the plant annually (carefully scraping away some of the old compost at the top of the container and replacing it with some fresh, this will prevent major root disturbance and you won’t have to move the pot of a climber that has been delicately trained against the wall) Take a look at our plant database, there are a couple of evergreen Clematis in there, with photos.

Hope I have been of some help,

George.