Advice o Climbing Plants Dilemma

[Alfie]

Hi,

We have quite a large clematis on one side of our garden wall and a honeysuckle on the other. They both climb up the wall. The previous owners had them climbing up onto a garage roof which we subsequrently took down due to issues with asbestos in the roofing. We imagine the function of these climbers was to cover the roof and make it more attactive, covering up the corrugated asbestos.

Now the garage is demolished the bushes from both of these climbers are tangled up sitting on top of the wall - I have attached pictures. We do still want climbers on either side in those positions. Hwoever, I'm not sure that clematis is alive ; it took a fair beating when the garage came down. Also, since the main flowering part used to be all the way up on top of a garage roof I'm not sure if that clematis is too big for just the wall now? I mean it would all flop down to the floor on the other side. So with this I'm not sure if it would be best to get rid of it and plant a smaller clematis?

Regarding the honey suckle, should I trim it all the way back to the main stem i.e. just sever the tangled mess at the top from both the clematis and honey suckle?

Any advice is much appreciated.

 

[Sheal]

I suspect the Clematis is dead. Having taken a closer look at the image it seems that someone has concreted all round the base of it. That would prevent water getting through to the roots. It's also likely that during the laying of the cement it has seeped through to the roots and poisoned the plant. If it's possible that the concrete can be removed and the Clematis fed and watered well, then there's a chance it may re-shoot. However I think it's unlikely.

I would prune the Honeysuckle to about halfway down the wall for the time being. Cutting where you suggest may be a little to harsh at this point. If it shows new growth from the base, may be later this season, then you could risk taking it further.

 

[Alfie]

I suspect the Clematis is dead. Having taken a closer look at the image it seems that someone has concreted all round the base of it. That would prevent water getting through to the roots. It's also likely that during the laying of the cement it has seeped through to the roots and poisoned the plant. If it's possible that the concrete can be removed and the Clematis fed and watered well, then there's a chance it may re-shoot. However I think it's unlikely.

I would prune the Honeysuckle to about halfway down the wall for the time being. Cutting where you suggest may be a little to harsh at this point. If it shows new growth from the base, may be later this season, then you could risk taking it further.

Thank you for the advice. The image of the clematis is misleading - that is sand at the base as we had that wall sand blasted to take the paint off. They tried to cover up as much of the plants as they could but a lot of got into the beds. I have since cleared all that out around the base with new soil. I will get trimming that honeysuckle now though

 

[Sheal]

My apologies, not seeing it for real it looks like cement. You could try feeding the Clematis as I said but I think it may be to late to make any difference.