Well that's a fine mess I've made…

May I present “the hydrangea”…

In case you’re just tuning in: the hydrangea monster is going away (to a very good home) and in its place will go a Schefflera delavayi, Clematis tibetana var. vernayi (with a nice metal screen for it to scramble on) and a Schefflera taiwaniana (which is getting too much sun in its current location). Last Friday I began cutting back the hydrangea in preparation for its move. And that’s when things got complicated.
The hydrangea had always been a wintertime eyesore so a few years ago I had the brilliant idea to grow an evergreen vine through it, Clematis armandii ‘Snowdrift.’ After several years of struggling it’s finally taken off. Now I realize this photo doesn't make it look like that was a terrific idea but normally I would have woven the vine back around the hydrangea once its leaves fell and things would be looking good. Anyway this brings me to the problem at hand. What do I do with the clematis?

I didn't realize just how huge it had gotten until I started unraveling it from the hydrangea (the twine rectangles in the lawn is my experimenting with the different sizes/shapes of sod I might remove, as discussed here).

As I work I've created a lop-sided hydrangea (love the sun-spots)...

The clematis stems are fairly brittle so I've had to work carefully…and it’s about ready to burst open with its fragrant blooms so I didn't wan to disturb them.

Even though I've been referring to the clematis as a single plant there are actually two, one on each side. This is the base of the biggest one as it emerges from the ground and loops around...

As if digging out and moving the hydrangea wasn't already a big enough job now I've turned it up a notch or two by attempting to save the clematis…even though I’m not sure what to do with it. I think I have a genetic predisposition to save every bit of plant material that I can.

So now I have to get the rest of the vine off the hydrangea without breaking it, gonna be fun! I’d love to hear any advice you might have. Have you tried to dig up a mature clematis? How did it go? Oh and hey guess what, another gardening season has begun!