Pruning a clematis - John Paul II

[united4ever]

See pic.

I read that now is the time to prune back by removing all dead and weak stems. I was going to prune back close all these stems but on closer inspection it looks like these are buds? Should I prune these?

I would prune it to just above the first set of buds or further if you want. They come back really vigorously in a few weeks.

Great thanks, yes, I will do

@united4ever

Great thanks, yes, I will do

Yep it's group 3 so needs cutting back hard, now, to a strong pair of buds. I did 150 or so of these this weekend at the garden centre I work in, and about the same of roses over the last 3 weeks. Really don't understand why people get so nervous about it....

People get nervous cause it feels like your about to kill the plant!!!

@WhatAWasteOfOranges

People get nervous cause it feels like your about to kill the plant!!!

If you can see a lovely healthy bud and just cutting off tatty rubbish above, really??