Freckles clematis

SK831 · September 2020

I have a large freckles clematis and until the last couple of weeks it was very healthy. The leaves starting from the bottom are now brown and crisp and slowly they are dying off through the whole plant. Should I cut it all back?

Fairygirl · September 2020

It's normal for foliage to die off as the season progresses, and you can pick off any leaves that are obviously dead. They don't normally get cut back unless outgrowing their space. They usually just need the odd trim or tidy.
Do you have a photo? That would help to see if there's any problem, or for offering other advice

SK831 · September 2020

SK831 · September 2020

Picture attached thankyou

Dovefromabove · September 2020

Mine looks pretty much the same ... it'll perk up soon and grow new leaves and flower buds. I do try to make sure it doesn't dry out at the base during the hot spells in the summer, and it gets a couple of dollops of clematis feed a year, once in spring and once in early summer, when I feed the other clematis but that's the extent of the TLC that it gets, and it never fails to perform well.

Fairygirl · September 2020

How is it growing? Is it in the ground? It's possibly just got a bit dry, especially if there's other planting in and around it.
It's normal for plants to drop more foliage in those circumstances, as they try to preserve the rest of the plant.
You probably could cut it back to rejuvenate it, but you'd lose the flowers this winter. Better to do it after flowering - spring- and tie new growth in horizontally as much as you can , which will give better coverage

SK831 · September 2020

It is the ground. I water almost daily and it has been flowering in parts up the top top it is over 10 ft high covering a telegraph post. I'll see how it looks next week. Thanks for the advice.

Lizzie27 · September 2020

That may be too much water for a clematis in the ground, especially now it's cooler and wetter. Try easing off for a bit and see what happens

SK831 · September 2020

Thankyou Lizzie I'll ease off and wait!

kempsey13 · September 2020

My freckles is doing exactly the same! It put on amazing growth after I pruned it in the spring but it has all browned and shrivelled from the bottom up over just the past couple of weeks. Thinking I will leave it now and try cutting back and starting again in the spring.

Fairygirl · September 2020

If you read @Dovefromabove post, you'll see that it isn't unusual.
Watering every day shouldn't be necessary @SK831, but it depends what else is growing there, as I said earlier. It wasn't possible to see the base of your plant in that photo. Any other planting is competition for moisture, and it's easy to assume a plant is moist enough, when it really isn't.
However, when watering, it's important to water thoroughly. It's no use pouring a dribble every day as it's actually bad for plants, especially clematis, as it encourages roots to stay nearer the surface. A good canful for a mature plant in dry conditions, every couple of days or so, is the kind of amount, and many areas have struggled this year with very small amounts of rain, leading to parched plants of all kinds .
The canopy of these plants also prevents rain penetrating, unless you have proper, regular rainfall, and people often assume watering isn't needed if there's a wee bit of rain.

Freckles clematis

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