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Help! Clematis dying!?

Matthew59Matthew59 Posts: 17
in Problem solving
Hi
I have had a lovely clematis for a few years now. It looked fabulous only a month ago as you can see from the one photo.  However when I was deadheading it I noticed a lot of the leaves behind the foliage had died. It looks like it is wilting but still has new growth. Not sure what to do as all of the stems are bound together and it’s big!

Posts

  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    A lot of people are experiencing a bit of droopy clematis stems this year. It's usually lack of water. They just haven't enough moisture to sustain the amount of new growth. 
    There was a very dry spring [even here] and I had to water some of mine when I usually wouldn't need to bother. I just remove any dead stems, but you may need to leave them if you can't get into them easily. If it's planted close to the fence, it also makes it a drier site. 
    The other common reason is slug/snail damage lower down, or even stems rubbing on supports.  
    Some varieties can get clematis wilt, but that doesn't look like it. 
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • Matthew59Matthew59 Posts: 17
    Fairygirl said:
    A lot of people are experiencing a bit of droopy clematis stems this year. It's usually lack of water. They just haven't enough moisture to sustain the amount of new growth. 
    There was a very dry spring [even here] and I had to water some of mine when I usually wouldn't need to bother. I just remove any dead stems, but you may need to leave them if you can't get into them easily. If it's planted close to the fence, it also makes it a drier site. 
    The other common reason is slug/snail damage lower down, or even stems rubbing on supports.  
    Some varieties can get clematis wilt, but that doesn't look like it. 

    Thanks very much for your response.

    I would be gutted if it was wilt as it is the pride of the garden! One of the reasons that I thought it was wilt was because some of the leaves had got brown patches on them too. I have had a lot of problems with slugs and snails this year though- every time i go in the garden at night it is covered with snails!

    Fingers crossed it isn't!







  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    Fingers crossed for you @Matthew59. I just attached a link about wilt on another thread for someone else with the same problem. Here's the thread
    https://forum.gardenersworld.com/discussion/1056878/is-this-clematis-wilt#latest


    The only good thing is - if it is wilt, there isn't much you can do other than cutting back anyway.  :)
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • Matthew59Matthew59 Posts: 17
    Thanks Fairygirl- that other person seems to have exactly the same problem as me! Cutting it back is going to be tricky for me as it would basically mean pulling the whole thing out- it is really big and all along a fence.
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    I think you'll probably just have to wait, and maybe take off any obvious dead stuff that you can reach - for aesthetics if nothing else. 
    In June I had a bit of dieback on my Niobe,  which is normally very trouble free, but I was able to reach it easily to remove the dead pieces. It's absolutely fine now.  
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
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