New Clematis Pruning, Group 2 ?

I have been growing Clematis for quite a few years , and understand the pruning methods for the 3 groups . I normally prune ,or tidy if it is a group 1 , in late February.
My question is on pruning New group 2's . I bought 3 lovely ones last November and planted them up . Now I prune G2 clematis by cutting back each stem to the top healthy bud . Some pruning advice for group 2s says prune in year 1 like a group 3 , i.e cut back to the first bud. Any ideas , is it a good method ?

PS. If you are new to Clematis , nothing in the garden looks deader in winter ! Don't worry new buds will be showing next month

 

I always understood that you're supposed to cut Group 2 clematis really hard back the first year to make the crown vigorous. Never had the courage to do it myself.....they struggle quite enough on clay as it is! If your soil's friable then might be worth doing it that way?

 

@noisette47 , two are planted in containers and one in a fairly new flower bed. So the soil is pretty good for all of them.

 

My clematis pruning knowledge only extends to the saying: "If it flowers before June, do not prune!"

Oh, so true!!!

 

Well the two clematis's across our fences are interwoven and I trim the extensions off that get long after it's flowered, as they try wrapping around the neighbours plants plus growing in her shed but I have noticed one thing by doing this...it makes them thicken out a lot more

 

@ARMANDII Beautiful show..just like your roses but even better seeing that pathway from another picture you added

 

The clematis where bought from Taylors , and they state they are at least 2 years old when shipped. They are good healthy plants with quite a few stems . So what I will do is cut a third of the stems right back to the first bud , and prune the others as per normal group 2 . Should be a good compromise . ( so pruning group 2.5 ! )

 

Love it!

Do show us how you got on with 2.5 ... and make sure you copyright it!

 

Group 1 - light prune / tidy after flowering or no pruning required .
Group 2 - light prune spring / remove dead / light prune after flowering if required or no pruning required.
Group 3 - cut back hard in early spring ( March ) to about a foot. I prefer growing group 3 variety's cause there easy to look after.
That how I treat them anyway.

I would cut back your group 2 hard to health buds first like you said, you get more flowers and a better frame work instead of a leggy plant with all the growth on 1 or 2 stems

 

We have these clematis across our fencing in white and pink Omg I never cut the tags off these

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Got my hubby to find some pic's out and I found this showing more of my clematis in flower on the white side as the pink hadn't come out at the same time last year...I hope I get a nice show this year.

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All my Spring flowering ones are budding up nicely now, so you should see growth on yours and be able to gauge how well its doing for 2018.

 

@"M" I had a look while out there today nothing as yet

 

Don't worry, give it another couple of weeks