By Jjgilbert
Somerset,
United Kingdom 
My clematis has flowered late spring but all the leaves are turning brown and the stems are becoming more and more bare. It is in its first year and to begin with it flourished well, but now it looks very sad! What can I do?
1 Jul, 2011
It hasn't had enough moisture at the rootball and it's suffering for it.
You need to water these plants with a hosepipe, they are incredibly thirsty vines (like a grape vine) and a couple of watering cans worth is nowhere near enough. Use the hose, lay it on the ground - on a medium speed trickle, for 10 minutes a week and it'll start to recover.
1 Jul, 2011