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Messed up with honeysuckle, to cut back further or not

susananwmssusananwms Posts: 213
in Problem solving
I am not the best of gardeners, still trying to learn.
Made a lot of mistakes with vigorous growing things so have given them away on face book or trying to cut back to get the garden I want (roses I hope, if I am successful)
Anyway, have a honeysuckle which I like but it had just taken over and grown over 6ft and spreading into other plants.  I cut it back but it was a mangle of bark, vines and leaves and I think I made a bit of a mess of it
Question is, now there is a lot of dry twigs and some not very healthy leaves is it better just to cut right back to ground and start again or just cut the twigs or the mangy leaves out.
I realise now that i have done this at the wrong time of year but just got confused with trimming after flowering, or in Autumn or in Spring...got mixed up
Have added some pics to give you an idea
Hope I have not completely destroyed it

Posts

  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    The old chaps in our village used to clip their honeysuckle hard back to brown twigs every few years. My the next spring it’d be covered with greenery and flowers ... so that’s what I do. 

    We did ours about 6 weeks ago - ish. It’s already showing a bit of regrowth. 

    The first photo is what it looked like this summer, about 4 years after the last time I cut it hard back. 




    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • susananwmssusananwms Posts: 213
    Thanks for that, so I can go ahead and cut it all back now, thibk I would rather do it now as it looks a bit messy. Cheers
  • rwest78rwrwest78rw Posts: 24
    edited September 2020
    Agree entirely with other comment. You'd be doing well to over prune a honeysuckle. Mine grows on a trellis to about 8ft square each year. When I cut it back to about 1ft I always worry I've gone too far. Then a year later it's too big again! 
  • susananwmssusananwms Posts: 213
    Thanks rwest you have made me feel better in the fact that I have really cut it back to practically nothing
  • AnniDAnniD Posts: 12,585
    My honeysuckle is flowering at the top, but the stems are bare at the bottom.  Is it too late to cut it back this year ? Should I wait until Spring? 
    Grateful for any advice  :)
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    edited September 2020
    I'd wait until after it's flowered ... you'll be cutting off flowering wood if you do it now. 

    However, it is in the nature of honeysuckle to have a bare bottom  :o  ;)  They climb up through the hedgerows and trees until they reach the top and sunlight.

    I find it better to plant stuff in front of them rather than try to get them to flower lower down. 
     A herbaceous clematis perhaps ... they like similar situations.  

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • AnniDAnniD Posts: 12,585
    Thanks @Dovefromabove :)
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