Clematis Armandii to grow up an apple tree?

[Katerpillar]

Has anyone grown a clematis up a tree? Will I need to attach wire around the trunk for it to climb up?

Many thanks

[More basil]

Clematis are originally woodland plants so they are designed to climb trees. They would love to have their feet in the shade and climb toward the sun. I'd give it a bit of support to get it started till it reaches branches it can cling on to. You can use string that decays once the plant is self supporting to avoid damaging the tree trunk. Bear in mind that Clematis armandii is vigorous (which is nursery talk for rampant!) so you may need to keep it in check to avoid it swamping your apples- if so, just prune it right after flowering. It may be a good idea to keep it reasonably in check so you don't get entangled when you need to prune your apple tree...

[DannyK]

How big is your apple tree? Whilst not as rampant as montana, armandii will get very big with time.

How high is the lowest branch? You'll need to plant it away from the trunk but once in the tree it'll easily get to the top. My armandii was mean to go across some trees but instead ended 30ft up next door's ash.