Any chance before you kill it, I get could a piece? I will pay the postage. You should be able to get rid of it with roundup, that stuff kills some pretty tough weeds. Thanks, Janet

The easiest (and safest) way to get rid of it is to dig it up. If established in that location for very long, it will have a pretty decent root system but digging up as much as you can and completely severing any large roots you can't remove should do the trick.

You can also try cutting off the stem at close to ground level and painting the cut stem with full strength RoundUp, but the plant has to be in active growth mode for RU to be effective.

if anyone knows about severe pruning of a clematis vine, please let me know, I have asked but I am not sure how to check where to find an answer on the forum, I recently became a member of Gardenweb.com, and still trying to learn how to navigate the site. I have a clematis (at my "new" house) that I believe has been established for awhile and I chopped it down to the woody trunks this passed fall. It was very full of big white flowers last June. I fear I may have killed it because I do not see any new growth coming from the bottom. I live in Holley, New York and it has been a long winter. From what I have read on the net, I think I was supposed to wait until February to prune. Please let me know what information or "hope" you can offer. Thank You so very much for your help.......clematis newbie....

I've found that it's pretty hard to kill a clematis, unless it's by shading it out, and even harder to kill an established one, so I'd be surprised if you killed it. Generally, they take very well to pruning, and come back bigger and better for it. I live in northern Vermont and we've also had a long winter. I checked my clems a few days ago and can see no signs of growth on any of them, so I wouldn't worry at all about it.

Dan, you should start your own thread. I'm sure you did not kill it. Hard pruning rejuvenates them, doesn't kill them.