Young clems died to ground. Now what?

2 years ago

last modified: 2 years ago

Zone 6a. Boston suburbs.

One was Tie Dye and it was vigorous in a 2 gallon pot when I planted it. Plenty of compost, big hole adequate water last year (first year here in ground) This year it was quite late coming up and the rabbits kept eating. Finally, it threw several more leaves which died back and now it is no where to be seen.

I have another NOID, probably in too much shade but I watched it fade from 4 " to nothing over the last few weeks.

I want to know what's going on. Can I carefully remove the top soil and see if they are alive or rotted?

Should I continue monthly feedings? I don't mind giving them another year and waiting to see what happens next spring even though NO Show Tie Dye leaves a the arbor bare- hardly a riveting garden feature.

It seems the best I can hope for is a vigorous root system and a plant that will take off next year. But with no leaves and no photosynthesis going on, how can it grow?

I'm no clem expert, but I do have several others that are doing fine.

It;s been hard weather out there: terrible heat for a week in late May early June;

and more rain in the last two weeks than in previous two summers. Besides the relentless rabbit browse, I can't think of any thing I may have done to them!

Thanks for any and all answers, including criticism.

Marie

Featured Answer

diggerdee zone 6 CT

2 years ago

I gotta say I've been gardening for a long time and I still would be hesitant to dig something up for fear of damaging it further. And well, for me, especially clematis, which I don't have a lot of experience with.

Marie, this is a different circumstance, but my jackmanii clematis did not come back this year - or so I thought. It had sustained some damage last year and although was fairly vigorous and bloomed well, it was literally growing from one, rather weak-looking stem. This spring I waited and waited and waited and there were no signs of any growth. I bought another clematis as an impulse buy and a week after I planted it, what did I see but my jackmanii sprouting forth.

Good luck!

Dee

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Comments (6)

davidrt28 (zone 7)
2 years ago
last modified: 2 years ago
I could only really skim this but a couple things just to mind: 1) you really, really must prevent rabbits from eating new growth of things and 2) "monthly" fertilization strikes me as too often for anything but vegetables and I guess annuals or a handful of 'temperennials' like Brugsmansia that are porky pigs of the plant world. If I planted a Clem, and I've planted a few, I wouldn't even fert. the first year - although I might give it a LITTLE bit in the hole, but only if I didn't see fert. beads in the potting mix used by the nursery. The I would only lightly fertilize the 2nd year, once. And that should be spread around maybe 2' diameter of the planting area...you want to encourage the root system to expand. Not just dump it at the based of the vine. YMMV if you have sandy or rocky New England soil, but I have a clay loam that retains nutrients quite well.

You can see how I use a variety of materials to protect new plants from the lop eared rats: https://www.houzz.com/discussions/6111092/a-little-out-and-about-sam-style-and-a-visit-to-my-garden

once something has been established for a couple years I know it will be able to recover from a mauling, but I don't assume that about new things.
gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
2 years ago
Clematis, especially those included in pruning group 2 (large flowered hybrids), can often disappear for a season or two. And the reasons can be varied - improper planting, failure to prune back hard the first couple of seasons, lax aftercare, stem damage, wilt in both its forms, etc. I treat as normal and they typically will respond the next growing season, if not sooner.

As long as the plant was neither overwatered/has poor drainage or allowed to dry excessively then IME it will come back.

I also agree with david's comments to protect the vine from predators. And no more monthly feedings! I don't even fertilize my containerized clems that often :-)
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ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
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with your garden.. and your experience level.. im surprised you took the time to type this all out.. instead of just gently digging it up.. and finding out whats going on underground ...

it ought to be rather easy to find out if you have a viable live root mass .. and if so.. shove it back in ... or pot it until the more forgiving fall planting period ...

ken
Marie Tulin
Original Author
2 years ago
Thank you, everyone. I was hoping for some reassurance and I got it from you. I see life in Tie Dye and just haven't gotten around to poking at the NOID dlem. There isn't a "live" person in the vicinity I can share my gardening anxieties with so I appreciate being able to (sometimes verbosely) just put them out there to experienced people.

Sometimes putting in writing clears my head and I can take action. That happened a couple of years ago when the garden was overwhelmed with weeds (and I was overwhelmed with it) and I wrote about here here- just asked for encouragement. People responded and it made a difference. Actually, I got out there and weeded for a few hours before getting the first responses. I just needed a garden enema.

Or maybe anti-acid along the lines of "pop pop fizz fizz, oh what a relief it is!" .... along the lines of an intensely (funny) rant about slugs.
Sheila z8a Rogue Valley OR
2 years ago
I hope they come up this year, Marie. I had a Duchess of Edinburgh clematis look dead this Spring and a just found pink buds lower down. Good luck!

Young clems died to ground. Now what?

diggerdee zone 6 CT

Comments (6)

davidrt28 (zone 7)

gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)

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Comments (6)

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