Help with honeysuckles
newgrower15
Posts: 1
I am new to gardening and l have three honeusuckle plants (all different varieites )but none of them are thriving. The Hallianna is two years old and is on a west facing wall and got a fungal infection last year when we were on holiday. I've cut it back and it is growing but the leaves are now yellowing and dropping and I thought it was supposed to be evergreen and it hasn't flowered. I have two in pots - one with varigated leaves( 5 years old) is growing slowly and had a few flowers last year but has never flowered profusely and this is on the garage wall in full sun and the other one (Japonica I think) had flowers at the top (not many) this year but looks very woody with hardly any leaves. it is on a a south facing fence. None of them have flowered very well. I'd welcome any advice particularly about watering, pruning anything really that might help me as I love honeysuckles and am keen for them to do well.
Posts
I had one that did well. It was the white and yellow flowered evergreen (Japonica I think). It had its roots in a really shady spot by a garage behind a fence that was quite heavy clay, North facing and cold. Its head was in the sun, South facing growing over a garage roof. It did go a bit bare and woody in winter but in summer it was lovely. I didn't try to tame it at all, it was a tangled mess underneath but this didn't matter when it filled out and flowered.
I think they're a bit big to grow profusely in pots and they can't go looking for nutrients so you have to feed.
I brought a cutting with me of the honeysuckle to this house and it had leaves that went yellow but it was planted entirely in full sun in really poor cinder-ey ground so I had to move it. I think they like a bit of shade.
This is just based on my experience, an expert might be along soon with better advice.
It's very difficult to keep a honeysuckle happy in a container ... they're woodland plants who like their roots in a large deep cool damp shady space with lots of humous like the woodland floor, and their heads to be in the sunshine as they would be, peeking out from the hedgerows and tree branches.
Containers are generally too warm, dry, shallow and confined for them.
Have you anywhere suitable where you could plant them in the soil?
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.