Would you prune this clematis...

[Fordian]

... right back?

I trim it every year but I am wondering whether to cut it back to one or two horizontals?

Is it a Montana? Spring flowering? If so I’d leave it until it has flowered and then give it a hard prune back to the vertical stems. Next year the new growth will flower without the woody tangle.

Do you know the type? Different clematis require different types of pruning at different times of the year.

I'll have to check old photos as to when it flowers.

Mid May.

It looks like it could be Clematis montana. That is pruning group 1 - you prune after flowering in late spring but you don't really need to do anything other than trim it:

www.rhs.org.uk/plants/clematis/group-one-pruning-guide

Thanks! 😊

[quote chesirecat99]It looks like it could be Clematis montana. That is pruning group 1 - you prune after flowering in late spring but you don't really need to do anything other than trim it:

www.rhs.org.uk/plants/clematis/group-one-pruning-guide[/quote]
And generally, you don't prune hard, rather just tidy up/ keep within the bounds