Clematis help???

[lovekisses]

My clematis looks really bad....

Do I need to cut off any of it to help it grow this year? Or do I just leave it?

Also should I be using some kind of support for it to help it stay tall?

Thanks for any help Im not very good with plants but Im trying to make our house look great!!

[Peety]

I trim off the dead stuff. I have a arch that mine grows up I am on my 3rd year.Itry and pick off the dead flowers, It seems to make it a bit better ..

[kitca]

some you trim back and others you dont. start trimming yours and see if the vines are dead or green. if dead, then trim but if they are green they will leaf out soon enough.

yes, you should have a support for it to climb. they just keep getting bigger and bigger each year. give it a good dose of manuere or compost to help it along also.

[Saultitis]

its a bit later than when you posted the question but i dont get on here much.... Clematis vines love to have their roots protected with other plants - if you plant some ground cover around the base this works well. I have a ground cover plant around it (Devil's Ivy - but I wouldn't recommend it if you don't already have it because once you get it, it is very invasive and impossible to rid of).
The extreme hot areas don't work well - mine gets the morning sun and it does wonderfully... been there for umpteen years... I have a trellis for it to grow and on top of that, another trellis mounted to my chimney so it grows about 13 feet high.
And I always trim it about a foot up from the roots every fall. I left the branches one year but I soon had to cut it to help it out. I have a purple Jackmani.

[LadyNina]

I have Jackmani as well, and I've had success the last 5 years or so trimming it back in the early spring. I don't think the plants are too particular, as long as you do trim them, so they can form new growth. Every year, they thicken up, and grow higher and higher. I use a ton of mulch at the base, with a lot of other plants around it. I've got two, and the one that's partial shade for sure grows better than the one in full sun.

[Tutones]

http://www.donnan.com/Clematis_care.htm

I found this article useful for my clematis. Keeping the roots shaded is also very important.