Clematis as ground cover

I am thinking of planting a couple of Clematis in my front border, which currently has several small Laurels (Otto Luyken) but nothing much else apart from some weeds trying to pop through. I have a few Clematis spare. The Laurels themselves won't provide much of a frame to climb up as they are too small.

Has anybody tried growing Clematis as ground cover and if so how did they fare?

 

The smaller-flowered ones like viticellas and texensis are good, but large-flowered ones tend to get ruined by slugs and snails. I think John Treasure used to use them over low-growing shrubs and heathers at Burford House..might be worth Googling to see if there are any pictures kicking around?