I have a clematis on an obelisk and all the leaves are brown. Do I remove those and cut down the clematis? If so, how much should I leave, or should it be cut back to 4 inches above ground?

A clematis can look quite brown and dead after a long winter. It is tempting to cut it back to the base, along with other perennials that benefit from this tidying up. However, the clematis is the poor man’s pruning minefield. The key is knowing when your clematis blooms, for that determines the “when,” the “what,” and “how much” to prune. Spring-flowering clematis (April-May) flower on their old wood (previous season’s growth). Pruning before flowering removes their blooms. Once flowering is finished, old stems can be cut back in early summer, enabling new growth to ripen the rest of the season for next spring. Clematis alpina, Clematis macropetala and Clematis montana fall into this first category.

The second clematis group flower on short stems produced on last season’s old wood. These are the early large-flowered hybrids, the double and semi-double flowers, and the mid-season hybrids which flower by the end of June. Pruning is essentially light. Remove dead, broken or weakened stems. Watch out you don’t remove a vine at the plant base that has flowering buds higher up. Varieties in this group are ‘Miss Bateman,’ the well-known ‘Nelly Moser,’ ‘Duchess of Edinburgh,’ and ‘General Sikorski.’

The third clematis group only flower late in the season, well after mid-June and into autumn. They only flower on new wood. Pruning involves cutting back all the previous year’s growth to just above a good pair of buds, about 10 to 12 inches above ground. Don’t prune this type of clematis any earlier than the end of February or beginning of March. Hybrids in this category are ‘Jackmanii,’ and the Clematis viticella cultivars.

Knowing when your clematis blooms is the key to making an informed pruning plan.

What effect will the late April, heavy snowfall have on bulbs, perennials, shrubs and trees this season? Is there anything I should be looking for or doing this summer because of it?

Actually the snowfall was like a slow-release watering for most of the plants in question. Some of the more delicate bulb blossoms succumbed more quickly and we didn’t get to enjoy their wonderful flowers as long. Perennials were just starting to emerge and welcomed the slow drink of water. The melting snow was a far better source of early season moisture than several downpours. Heavy rainfall can quickly flood and set new root growth to rotting because the soil hasn’t had the chance to warm up and process that much water. The ground is still waking up too!

The downside for shrubs and trees is the wet snow sticks and applies a lot of weight to branch structure. Any broken tree limbs or shrub branches should be properly pruned out and removed. Shrubs may need to be reshaped for aesthetics or replaced if snow broke out the center crown. Be on the lookout for insects or funguses that might home in on the pruning cuts this early in the season. Make sure injured trees and shrubs get plenty of consistent water and air circulation to help their healing process. Sometimes a young tree sapling, like a maple or pine, may lose a central leader. It is important to train and shape a secondary leader branch to become the central upright to maintain the natural configuration and strength of the tree.  Otherwise you have a tree that grows with a flat top, becomes top heavy as secondary branches fight for dominance, and becomes a candidate for further storm damage.