Different types of clematis can provide you with flowers for most of the year. Yet, they are the climbers which cause the most confusion when it comes to pruning.

Because there are three groups of them, you can prune the wrong type at the wrong time, and ruin your chances for blooms this year.

Group 1 clematis, which flower in spring, bloom on stems which grew the previous year. Prune them straight after flowering by clipping the sideshoots back to a few buds of the main framework.

They should not be pruned in the winter, or you’ll cut off all the shoots and lose the new season’s flowers.

Now is the time to prune summer-flowering Group 2 clematis, which bloom on stems produced in the current season. They are pruned in late winter or early spring to remove much of last year’s growth.

Group 2 clematis include many of the large-flowered hybrids, including the most famous pink-striped variety ‘Nelly Moser’.

The aim with pruning Group 2 clematis is to retain a framework of old wood, and also to stimulate new shoots to maximise flowering throughout the season.

Unless the plant already has three or four healthy stems growing from the base, all newly-planted clematis should be cut back just above a strong pair of leaf buds about 30cm above soil level during the first spring after planting.

With established plants, remove dead or weak stems before growth begins, check individual stems from the top down until you reach a pair of healthy buds, and prune just above them.

Some mid-to-late-summer flowering clematis can be treated as either Group 2 or Group 3, as desired, including ‘Comtesse de Bouchaud’, ‘Gipsy Queen’ and ‘Hagley Hybrid’.

Group 3 are late summer and autumn-flowering clematis including viticella and texensis and some large-flowered types including ‘Niobe’, ‘Perle d’Azure’ and ‘Ernest Markham’. They flower on both last year’s and the current season’s growth.

In the first year, prune them back in late winter or early spring to the lowest pair of healthy-looking buds you can find, which will be about 30cm-90cm above the ground. This may mean cutting off green, healthy shoots, but the plant will reshoot from the base and be better for it.