1. Check which kind of clematis you have before you touch the pruners
This is the first urgent job because August care depends on whether your clematis blooms on old wood, new wood, or both. If you have a large-flowered repeat bloomer like ‘Nelly Moser’, ‘The President’, ‘Dr. Ruppel’, or ‘Jackmanii Superba’, it often benefits from gentle deadheading and light tidying now. If you have a heavy spring bloomer that flowers mostly on old wood, you need to be much more careful.
A simple way to sort it out is to think back to when it bloomed most heavily. If it had a big flush in late spring or early summer and is capable of a second round, August care should be light and supportive. If it blooms mostly from midsummer into fall on fresh growth, you still do not want
