Sounds like rabbit damage. I had tthat happen to me along the fence and was frustrated to see long stems with buds die only to find them cut off below. After spraying with Liquid fence I didn't have any more problems. Only had to spray the one year, no damage since.

Sounds like rabbit damage. I had tthat happen to me along the fence and was frustrated to see long stems with buds die only to find them cut off below. After spraying with Liquid fence I didn't have any more problems. Only had to spray the one year, no damage since.

I'll spray tomorrow. For now, I laid now a thick layer of mulch 16" out from all stems, them sprinkled Irish Spring that I pulverized to quarter & dime sized pieces around every plant. Hated to do it.
I hate the smell of Irish Spring!

Just curious..what would the Irish Spring do? and I'm really sorry about your clematis. That would be really disheartening to say the least. Best of luck with it.

I've never tried Irish Spring before, but have heard over the years it's a deterrent due to it's strong scent. I've read where you can hang bars of soap off tree branches for instance, to keep deer away and figured rabbits wouldn't like it either. I left an extra cupful at the entrance to the woodchuck's abode and will be interested to see what happens there. I need a couple Terriers.

RABBITS!!! We have green-coated chicken wire around all clems but they managed to burrow under and cut some off this year. First time we lost any, the rabbits are the worst ever this year! Marlene