Question
QUESTION: I bought a home 5 years ago with an active clamatis vine near the porch. For the first three years the vine produced heavy yields of blooms (in June) on thick healthy looking new growth. Last year and apparently this year the vines appear to be much thinner (in size,not quantity) and as they grow, they get thinner and thinner near the top. The number of blooms has been drastically reduced and the plant has a fragile look about it.

I have been fertilizing regularly and I prune the growth back to about 12 inches in the fall.

Can you suggest a cause or is my plant just reaching old age?

Thanks,

Carl Meyers

ANSWER: Hi Carl,
Thanx for your question.  Can you tell me what type of clematis you have, what you've been feeding it and how often you've been feeding.
thx,
Tom

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hi Tom--I can't identify the type (I didn't plant it) but it's an early blooming type (if thats a criteria) I did notice that the first years I was left with thick canes after the first frost, and much of the new growth came from the cut back canes but the past two years the plant seems to be getting all new growth from the base.

I have been sprinkling a light amount of 10-10-10 around the base of the plant in early spring, then watering with an all-purpose soluble plant food around the end of the blooming period (around mid-July)

Answer
Hi Carl,
Thanx for the additional information.  Make sure the planted section hasn't gotten shadier over the past 5 years.  Trees and shrubs grow and one doesn't realize how much more shade there is over a span of years.  Make sure you aren't using a high nitrogen fertilizer as this will cause more green growth than flowers.  I would use  well-composted cow manure.  Also give the plant a good mulch of straw to keep the roots cool in the summertime.  

Here's what Ohio State University says:

Group A: Early-flowering Clematis
Plants in this group bloom in early spring, generally in April and May, from buds produced the previous season. Prune these back as soon as possible after bloom but no later than the end of July. This allows time for new growth to produce flower buds for the next season. Remove shoots that have bloomed. You can prune out more vines to reduce the size or to form a good framework of branches. Do not cut into woody trunks. Plants in this group include: C. alpina, C. macropetala, C. armandii, C. montana and C. chrysocoma.

These early bloomers will require pruning right after blooming ends.  If you prune later, you will be pruning off new blooming buds for next year.

I hope this helps.
Tom