Clematis Aramandii - unhealthy looking stem advice needed

fizzyliz

Hi, when tidying up my border I noticed my Clematis Aramandii stem not looking too healthy? The leaves above it have gone brown. It almost looks dead but I scraped it and it’s green inside… I wondered if stem was broken a little (however my other clematis - alpina blue - looks a little similar but not as much). It’s leaves are green everywhere else and it’s even got a couple of buds at the top! And ?a few black fly or something just at very top which we did spray off with water several weeks ago.  

Is the stem damaged? Is this normal? Should I remove the dead leaves? Does it need a good water? Any advice would be so appreciated! Thank you 😊

Lizzie27

It's probably okay, so don't worry. Clematis stems often look a bit manky. You can cut off the dead brown leaves if you don't like them.
I have to say though, that is the wrong clematis for that situation. C. Armandii is a monster plant which, if it is happy, will swamp your trellis in no time and everything in it's way. It also looks from the photo to be planted too near the wall and probably will not get enough water there. They need gallons.
Mine is about 3 metres high and about 6-7 metres wide, after 10 years.
Sorry.

Ysera27

It's normal. Mine is exactly the same. As it grows the lower stem and leaves die off. I would give yours a trim back to encourage side shoots if I were you.