Clematis dying?

English_girl_in_France · June 2023

Hello, I planted this clematis around 4 months ago and it was doing really well at first and grew really quickly. I have been away for a month and my husband has been looking after the garden so not sure when it started, but the leaves are starting to turn brown and its not looking great. I put some mulch around the bottom to stop the roots over heating a few days ago, but I'm worried it's going to die 😟 any advice? Thank you 🙏🏻

punkdoc · June 2023

More water, might be the answer.

Fairygirl · June 2023

I agree. It's most likely just dry, especially up against that fence so tightly.
It's also fairly common for some stems to die off, and it can be for the following reason -
the bark. It's just somewhere for slugs to hide, and they love emerging, soft growth. Far better to mulch with compost or similar after it's been watered

I always have problems early i n the year with the larger flowered varieties because of slugs. I'm at the point of not growing clems any more because it's such a big problem here.

Slow-worm · June 2023

My winter flowering ones do that - I cut them to the ground for 2 or 3 years, but they just do the same thing - the top growth is fine, and they flower. I haven't cut it at all yet this year, some bits are brown higher up, but there's loads of new growth.
My mum, however, has a few summer clematis, and doesn't even water hers in a drought, and they look amazing!
Sod's Law maybe?

borgadr · June 2023

Slow-worm said:

My winter flowering ones do that - I cut them to the ground for 2 or 3 years, but they just do the same thing - the top growth is fine, and they flower. I haven't cut it at all yet this year, some bits are brown higher up, but there's loads of new growth.
My mum, however, has a few summer clematis, and doesn't even water hers in a drought, and they look amazing!
Sod's Law maybe?

My summer (Group 3) clematis, like viticella, were OK in the drought last year. It was the spring-flowering clematis montana that really suffered.

English_girl_in_France · June 2023

Thanks everyone! I am going to try more water for now and see what happens and I will also maybe get some plant food! I had a look round in the bark for slugs but couldn't see any 🤔 so hopefully not that!

Emptyheadtime · June 2023

Is it possibly just one stem the has got damaged/severed at the base that’s caused it or is it on various, otherwise heathy stems?

Fairygirl · June 2023

It's newly planted - it'll take the rest of the year to establish properly, and that's why watering is important. It needs to get it's root system down so that it can cope with varying conditions, and also produce new stems from below ground.
That's why the large flowered ones should be planted more deeply, and the small flowered early ones shouldn't - completely different growing habits and requirements. Even montanas don't like more moisture than is necessary - it's why they grow well here right up against walls where it suits them well as it tends to be drier. Montanas suffering is more likely to be down to the wet autumn followed by the freeze/thaw cycle than dry conditions

If you didn't plant it more deeply than it was in the pot, you can add more compost etc over time as a mulch, which will help with moisture, but also help it grow correctly. Don't feed once it starts flowering - feeding should be done before, and leading up to that, depending on how you want to do it, but stop once there are flowers.

Clematis dying?

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