By Dragonfly45
East Yorkshire,
United Kingdom 
I have a very thick, large clematis armandii growing over a pergola. I did prune it slightly after flowering. However, wispy long shoots keep growing to such a length they are getting out of hand and if not chopped off to keep the pergola tidy, would grow to an enormous length. I regularly chop off these shoots or try to tie them in across the top of the pergola. Any suggestions please as to whether I am doing the right thing by clipping off these long tendrils?
11 Jul, 2016
Answers
If you need to control its size, I'm afraid a severe pruning immediately after flowering is over is called for on a yearly basis, to the point where you think you've overdone it and the pergola looks a bit bare. It won't do later in the year, because all those whippy growths will appear...
11 Jul, 2016
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Unless your pergola is absolutely ginormous, C. Armandii will always be a problem as it's such a vigorous plant (up to 40 ft) and is almost impossible to control. We sadly had to get rid of ours, even though we had a lot more space than an average pergola can provide.
11 Jul, 2016