Clematis: clems and earwigs, 1 by ClematisGuru

ClematisGuru wrote:
i am wary of anything with oil on the clems. hot sun and oil....frying pan.
i plant all my clems using a 3 gallon thin black plastic pot, cutting the top 2 to 3 inches off and place it as a collar around the plant. some of my older plants no longer have the collars, but i find it indispensible in insect control, erosion control and keeping the soil level and compost and ammeded soil where i want it to stay. also helps me identify the plant and keep tabs on it when it is small. keep regular mulch off the clem etc etc. 95% of my clems have a collar like this at the base.

slung some sand and oyster shell myself today, and got some DE, which i am planning to apply to my most prone area. thanks for the mask reminder.....

here is a pic of a small clem plant from last year in the collar that i use. if i have ground cover in an area, i keep it pulled back off the area inside the collar, which helps all the way around too.
this plant in the pic was huvi when it first went in last year. it is past the trellis this spring, with the collar still in place.