I would do nothing. They will sort themselves out I’m sure. Unless your fence is more than about 100 ft long, 6 C. armandii has the potential to cover it completely.

Zounds! They do not look very good, Very anemic coloring and very undersized new growth. I would cut it back hard. In fact I recommend a hard prune on any clematis type when first planted. Hard pruning serves to encourages root system development and more basal stemming. And since it takes from 3-5 years before a young clematis is established and growing and flowering as intended, an early prune is not a big deal.

Looks like a lot of sun for a very shade tolerant vine. I would plant something at the base to shield the roots and make sure you give it plenty of water.

I was also wondering about the leaf color! All of ours are this bright green (or the reddish color for new leaves) yet all the pics I've seen show very dark leaves. I wasn't sure if it was because they are so young or what.

I'm also realizing we didn't plant them deep enough and prob should have planted them a couple inches deeper 😬 how bad of an idea is it to try to bury them deeper at this point? I'm scared of breaking roots...

I wouldn't bother replanting and disrupting things now. Deeper is always good with clems but that is usually to help prevent wilt, which armandii is resistant to.

The leaves may just be a bit sun bleached. As long as your soil conditions are well draining, good and enriched I doubt it is any nutrient issue . Maybe rig up some temporary shade for them?

We've had hardly any sun since they've been planted 😂 our spring has been record breaking in regards to rain and clouds. We have experienced unnatural winds tho, and I'm sure that doesn't help. I'll work on planting something closer to protect the roots since the Sedge isnt big enough. Any thoughts on how a Grace Ward lithodora would do at its base? Those seem to grow much quicker for us than my preferred creeping phlox.

The lithodora is not a plant I particularly like as it always has significant dieback with our wet winters. My personal preference are hardy geraniums but the lithodora will work.

And that location looks like it gets lots of sun...when it does appear :-) This is one type of clematis that really prefers a less than full sun location and IME, thrives in at least partial shade.

Ohh I don't have experience with hardy geraniums, I'll check those out! Love anything that will not be a brown, dead looking heap come winter lol.

The spot gets afternoon sun for sure, about 4 hours of it before its shaded in the shadow of house. So grateful to have found this forum!

Hardy geraniums are wonderful!! Some are evergreen; most are not. But there is one that will fit any garden situation.

Candytuft, Iberis sempervirens, will also work well. Evergreen, spreads nicely and is usually in bloom the same the clematis is.

I recently got a candytuft to replace one of the Sedge that died and am quite happy with it so far. I'm still battling with the moles tho 😡 they had been staying away from the clematis but yesterday and today they have come up within a couple centimeters of them. I dont want them damaging the roots but so far they've evaded every trap and arent discouraged by any of the sprays/pellets/natural methods.

Moles are insectivores and eat only soil insects and worms. They don't damage roots, though they may tunnel around and through them. But voles will use mole tunnels and they do eat roots.