'I'm honestly devastated': Woman wakes to find mother-in-law cut down her 6-foot clematis to the soil

One gardener's upsetting morning is striking a nerve online after she shared that her mother-in-law cut down a beloved clematis.

What happened?

A Reddit user said a potted clematis that had climbed roughly 6 feet up a wooden frame was cut all the way back after her mother-in-law decided to do some gardening, leaving no visible growth above the soil beyond a few weeds.

She wrote, "Woke up this morning to discover my MIL had done some gardening and cut my Clematis back to the base. Will it grow back? Is there anything I can do to help it? I'm honestly devastated; I'm disabled and this is the one plant I have been able to keep alive for any length of time."

To make matters worse, the mother-in-law left behind weeds because she thought they were "supposed to be growing in the pot."

Why does it matter?

For the poster, the mix-up was more than a gardening mistake: It was the destruction of hours and hours of hard work. 

Plants that do not fit a tidy, conventional lawn aesthetic are often dismissed as weeds, which can lead to them being cut down or removed. Even when done with good intentions, it can be really frustrating for gardeners to lose beloved plants. It can also harm the local ecosystem, as such plants are often beneficial to pollinators and small creatures. 

What are people saying?

The overall consensus in the comments was positive. 

"Yes, clematis will generally grow back after being cut down to the soil provided the root system is healthy and viable, there will be no flowers this season," one commenter noted. 

Others provided encouragement for bringing new life to the plant, with tips such as covering the base with some mulch and fertilizing with something higher in nitrogen.

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