Is this clematis 'dead legs'?

11 years ago

Hello, I'm new to this site and growing clematis I planted a clematis 3 months ago in the spring ( I live in New Zealand) , and it has grown remarkably well. However I noticed a few days ago the leaves near the base were yellowing and browning off, see photo of leaf deterioration progression. The undersides lack the brown or tan blotch, but are the same colour as the leaf topside.

The aspect is not ideal, there is no shade at all, but I have covered the soil with 5cm ( 2 inches) of crushed gravel and stones to keep the soil and roots a bit cooler. The topsoil is stony clay, but I mixed in some potting mix and deep watered it for a week to establish.

I can't attach more than one photo, so will send a second photo in a seperate post. Any helpful advice would be great :)

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Comments (3)

mnwsgal
11 years ago
Good photos,Marko. You do not need to start a new thread to post a second photo. Bring up the first posting and add the new photo in the message box below. It would be helpful to post your second photo in this thread as well. Then you can edit the second thread and delete the photo and message and put "deleted by poster". You may need to change the Subject of Posting title slightly if GW won't accept the second posting.

You mention it is very hot there which may be why the bottom leaves are drying up. Some clematis varieties are more apt to have browning lower stems than others. Keeping the soil moist lessens the browning but might not stop it. If the there are plenty of green leaves higher up and it is putting out new growth there might not be anymore to do. That is why many grow other plants in front of clematis to help hide the bare lower stems.
mnwsgal
11 years ago
In Minnesota we call it "bare legs". ;-)

See how I changed the subject posting?
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marko_212
Original Author
11 years ago
Thanks Minnesota! We are having a roasting summer here, and I noticed that pouring a bucket of water onto the soil went straight into the ground in 3 seconds. The plant flowered, suddenly stopped growing, and the leaf yellowing has progressed higher up. Scraping into the 'soil' indicated very low water retention. I have increased the water volumemto 2 buckets a day, but I will also replace the surrounding topsoil with potting mix to improve structure and retention. We had earthquakes here a few years that were so violent it changed the soil structure!