By Griseldarose
London,
United Kingdom 
I bought two small clematis plants (about 8 inches high). After two days one had been eaten completely and the other one had been heavily chewed. I put gravel on the surface of the pot of the remaining plant, hoping that this would deter slugs and snails (which I assumed were the problem). This seemed to work, and the plant doubled in height and a bud appeared! Today I discovered that the bud had been eaten. What do I do??
19 Jun, 2012
It is most probably slugs and snails, can you see any other bugs on them? I sometimes get little greenfly type pests on mine and then I spray them with a bug killer. Everyone seems to be experiencing problems with the slugs this year, they come out when its dark so you could do a check on them then. I have slug pellets around my clematises and although some of the leaves have been chewed slightly, they are doing ok, but I too will be devastated if they destruct them. If they are in pots, can you lift them and put them slightly higher off the ground at night? Also if you google slug eggs in images it will show you a picture of what the eggs look like, if you see any stand on them as they will emerge next year and do the same again. I hope they soon recover for you.
19 Jun, 2012