Saving an established Clematis from being hacked :(

Hi all,
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My dad and I are in the process of repainting the house. We live in a Scandia Hus (House) which has a lot of wood on show, thus needs a new coating every 3 to 4 years. The last time it was properly painted was about 8 years ago lol
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Anyway, since that time a beautiful Clematis (Montana I'm told) has rocketed in growth and spread quite dramatically across a pagola and up the roof. Not only has this cut off access for painting, my dad also feels that its getting into crevasses and uplifting the tiles. It has in fact climbed through the tiling and into the attic - However, I believe that its not actually doing any damage, although he reckons it is!
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Now, he wants to totally rip the Clematis off! - He says that its damaging the house and the cost of repair would be extortionate! My mum is virtually in tears and I would like to find a constructive alternative that makes everyone happy with out injury or death haha
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So, how can I save it? Do you think it would be possible to move or shift the mass, perhaps even fold it over? I guess that we would need to carefully pry the plants vines off where it has 'tied/stuck/clamped' itself down?
Would this process kill or irreparably damage the plant? I suppose we would prefer to sacrifice parts then lose the entire body.
I was then thinking that after painting, we could staple down some form of plastic sheeting that would halt the vines access into the attic and other crevasses - Is this heard of and do you reckon it could work?
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Does anyone perhaps have some thoughts on this thatI haven't mentioned or suggested?
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Unfortunately my dad doesn't see the garden in the same light as my mum and I, as you can see in the image below, the day before yesterday he hacked away at a bush which he thought was a fire hazard. And rather then cautiously cutting back, he liberally destroyed a cozy corner that we once had.
This action also killed 1/4 of the same Clematis that has spread up onto another tree - the flowers have already closed and look frail
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[Area behind the BBQ viciously cut back]
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[Area now dieing furthest away on the tree - image taken from upstairs]
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[same as above and where it goes under the tiles]
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[side of the house]
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[canopy]
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[from the garden]
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The plant has been growing there for 18 years and was planted when my parents moved in. Its almost as old as I am and therefor in my memory its always been there Thus to see it go under these circumstances when it could be prevented would be a disaster - More so it would be a disaster for our garden which would look bare with out the character that the old vines and flowering mass above add.
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All ideas welcome and thank you for taking the time to read this tome lol

 

Hallo Klis,
I can tell by your writing that you are sentimentally attached to this Clematis as it has always formed part of your growing up. That's nice however, this plant as you can see has become a monster in its own right and is sadly getting out of control. No good gardener likes to "put down" a plant but...
One day I imagine you will leave home and start a new life and garden of your own and thus leave your Clematis Montana. Life moves on, as do plants and their life's cycle. I don't wish to come over as a boring old philosopher but that's life kid. Time to let it go....
Hope I haven't upset you .
Welcome to this great Gardeners Corner
Jenny namaste

 

No harm done to my feelings Jenny
I had just hoped that there was an alternative to removing it completely!
Rather then sentimental value though, I really think its part of the gardens character and the house itself would lose a lot if its gone :\

 

That is true Klis, but maybe you can be persuaded to think of something new to replace it with. In October 1987, a great wind swept through the UK and many great trees were felled to the ground. It opened up new vistas and thus opportunity to plant anew. On reflection, many great and good gardeners reckoned it was a blessing in disguise.
Other members will be along to give different opinions; the night is young yet,

 

Hi Klis, Clematis montanas are hardy plants and take some killing...if at all posible cut back all the growth that is in the way and needs to be removed after it has finished flowering and it will re-grow without a doubt. Then it can be trained and kept in check to stop it getting where you don't want it..

I once had a neighbour poke a saw through a hedge and cut a Clematis montana off about 2ft from the ground to kill what had grown in the hedge ....it re-grew and was flowering again within 2 years..

 

Hi Klis

Yes, montanas are incredibly tough and will usually regrow from a stump. So if you can persuade your dad not to uproot it entirely, but simply hack it back to somewhere near the ground, you could start again - keeping it in check as necessary.

Unfortunately the plants are more monster than montana and it's not a good thing to have them rambling over roofs. But they do look lovely when in flower!

 

What a quandary. I would feel exactly the same.

I think it will be hard to just "trim" this monster. So I would suggest you cut it back to the level you can easily reach, say about 6 feet above the ground and remove all the stems above that. it will be a tangled mass which you can never sort out otherwise.

I would do it as soon as it finishes flowering. That way it will start making new shoots in June which will be ready to flower next year. So you will not have to miss a year's blossom although the show will be minor compared with this year.

About your Dad, bless him. Could you just let him out with the secateurs between October and April when things are dormant? I really hate cutting into an actively growing plant (unless it's absolutely necessary, as with the clem) and the results always look so much worse when the rest of the garden is lush and green.

 

As has already been said, you can cut it right back without killing it and it will soon regrow. However, make sure you prune it back each year to stop it taking over again.

 

I was also very attached to a clematis montana and I had help with clearing part of my garden which included a wall which supported the montana, my friends were all for just hacking at it. If that happens you may well find you have ugly bare stems in place so I'd say go for an acceptable height and try a neat cut there rather than cutting back individual stems. As long as your dad doesn't cut right back to the root it will be OK.

Maybe have a look at some photos from about 10 years ago, did it look good then? Could you cut it back that far and all be happy?

 

I've just been visiting a garden where the neighbour chopped down a massive montana that had invaded high up into a nearby tree and almost demolished the shared fence. All the green stuff had been cut away and all that was left were long bare lianas still up to 15' long. I knew they were still alive as they were green under the bark. They got laid along the top of the fence and looked pretty terrible in April. Today, however, they already have produced new growths up to as foot long which will flower next year and the whole thing is now neater and under control.