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Clematis dieing from bottom up
lucy.brown
Posts: 2
Hi all, I am completely new to gardening and looking for some help.
I have been told this is a clematis and it seems to be growing really well at the top but the bottom keeps turning twiggy and all the leaves are falling off. Can you advise what I should do?
Last edited: 29 July 2017 14:09:38
0
Posts
It looks more like a honeysuckle than a clematis. Honeysuckles twine around their supports as yours appears to be doing, whereas clematis use their leaf stalks to cling onto things like this
My guess is that your honeysuckle is very thirsty ... they need a lot of moisture and as it's at the foot of a wall it's probably shielded from most rainfall (what we call a 'rain shadow') . I would give it a bucket full of water at least twice a week from now until autumn, whether it rains or not. If you can get hold of some well rotted manure, leaf mould or home made compost mulch around the root area with that (just don't have manure actually touching the stems ... leave a small gap)
Next spring water it the same from early March onwards. and also give it a sprinkling of Fish Blood & Bone (a slow release organic fertiliser) in the spring.
Let us know how you get on
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Thank you so much, I will get watering ?