Clematis question

Hi there

I was wondering if you could tell me if I have killed my clematis! It is a pink Comtesse de Bouchaud and on the label it says to hard prune in early Spring. The clematis has been there since we moved in in 2002. Must admit I've never hard pruned it before, just trimmed it here and there and it has produced lots of flowers.
Anyway a few weeks back, (early April I think) I decided to give it a new lease of life as some of the stems were looking rather old. I wasn't sure exactly what was meant by "hard prune" so i looked it up in my Alan Titchmarsh book and it seemed to say that you could cut right back to ground level. I did so and cut it back, leaving about half an inch above ground. Will new shoots come through soon or have I completely misunderstood what to do (wouldn't surprise me) and killed it off? There doesn't seem to have been any new shoots yet, (unless slugs have got to them?) Is it worth waiting to see what happens or has my poor clematis had it if there have been no signs of life by now?

Thank you

Amanda

 

Shoots should come up from the roots.

 

Thanks - I'll sit tight and hope.

Amanda

 

If you ever feel the need to do that again, then February is a better month in which to do it. Sprinkle a little rose fertiliser round your Clematis now to give it a boost. Do not worry too much. One of ours disappeared below ground 2 years back and has just produced a new shoot now!

[ 01. May 2006, 12:29 PM: Message edited by: Palustris ]

 

Thank you!