"kay" wrote in message
...

may;925871 Wrote:
over the last few years i have collected quite a few clematis , but
i have decided to dig them up, it really greives me to have to do this
, but my garden is not pleasing me any more , every year the
clematis grows really lush , with lots of really big buds and just when
they are ready to bust into bloom those nasty little brown and cream
snails eat the stems and the whole lot dies, at first i thought it was
clematis wilt, but over the years i have found out it is those snails
that are doing the damage, and it does not help that i am having
trouble with a low growing heart shaped weed that is taking over my
garden, and those snails are hiding in the leaves of that weed , and i
just cannot seem to get rid of that weed so the garden is full of those
nasty little snails that eat my clematis , after the clematis dies
back they look so messy all over the garden with dead buds all over
them,

i have had enough of it and i am soo sad about it

What are you doing in the way of pruning the clematis? It's the new
growth the snails like, and although they can climb, most damage is
within a couple of feet of ground level. I find that if I can get my
clematis above about 3 ft high (if necessary by growing them in a pot in
the greenhouse away from snails) then they are OK. It's a matter of
making sure they have dry woody stems up to about 3ft, so, obviously,
never pruning them lower than that.




--
kay

Use a liquid slug killer in a spray on a dry evening, spray up the plant as
well as on the ground around it , you will only have to do it once.


--
Charlie, Gardening in Cornwall
Holders of National Collections of Clematis viticella
and Lapageria rosea cvs
http://www.roselandhouse.co.uk