Hi,

you should post this over on the regular forum, not the gallery.

How tall is your cherry? I don't grow clems up a tree (yet) but I do grow them up some fairly tall shrubs like lilacs and viburnums. One of the first problems is finding a good planting spot with limited tree roots fairly close to the trunk of the trees. Then I guess you could wrap the trunk in some kind of wire support so the clematis can get up into the tree. Once it is into the branches it will do fine on its own.

Pick a large vine, even a group 3, and plan on not pruning it back in the spring. I recently got a book that had a picture of Etoile violete growing up into a 75 foot pine tree. The clematis had got to about 25'.

Is the area shaded by the cherry? if it is just that the clematis will head for the sun.

Michael

I have a "Huldine" clemmie in its second year growing into a crabapple tree. I planted it about a foot away from the tree truck (it was still quite a young tree), and let it climb straight up into the lowest branches. I planted a tall astilbe right in front of the clemmie, which hides the awkward looking rope of stems. I intend to cut back Huldine in the spring, and then guide the stems over to the truck, so they can grow up it and not be so obvious. I picked Huldine because it is tall and because I read that it is lovely looking up at its underside. I'm a little disappointed, though, because it doesn't really jump out at you when it is in bloom, even though it is white and the tree has very dark leaves. It's also pretty vigorous, and next year I need to be sure I spread the stems out across the whole tree, so no one part is shaded totally. Once it has reached into the tree, and is growing in the directions I want, though, I have just let it go its own way, so it's pretty easy.

I'm doing it too, but I must say, not altogether too successfully. I have Niobe on a Magnolia but it doesn't seem to get any higher than 3.5 ft so far, so it looks like its hugging the bottom of the tree! I also have two Presidents climbing up a Tulip Tree, but same thing. Not too tall yet. I do twine the stems around the tree and then tie them to the tree with twine, but they're not growing any taller either! I really think that the tree is just sucking out all the nutrients and the clems are just hanging in. I will be moving them in early fall or next spring to another location, once I find one.

I think you need to plant the clematis well away from the trunk; more like at the drip line of the tree. You need something to help the vine get into the tree, and from there it is supposed to be clear sailing...