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Rejuvenating Honeysuckle

SweetPea2022SweetPea2022 Posts: 42
in Problem solving
Hi, I've got a top-heavy honeysuckle (flowers in the summer). Assuming now is a good time go prune it - any tips on the best way to go about it? 

Posts

  • GardenerSuzeGardenerSuze Posts: 5,692
    Do you know the exact name of it as prunin advice can vary.
     
    I have worked as a Gardener for 24 years. My latest garden is a new build garden on heavy clay.
  • Busy-LizzieBusy-Lizzie Posts: 24,043
    It depends if it flowers early or later. It looks much tidier than mine!
    Dordogne and Norfolk. Clay in Dordogne, sandy in Norfolk.
  • GardenerSuzeGardenerSuze Posts: 5,692
    Honeysuckle is not a naturally a tidy plant if left to roam.
    I have worked as a Gardener for 24 years. My latest garden is a new build garden on heavy clay.
  • SweetPea2022SweetPea2022 Posts: 42
    GardenerSuze said:
    Do you know the exact name of it as prunin advice can vary.
     
    No, I didn't plant it, so not sure what it is, not 100 percent sure when it flowers, but in summer rather than winter 
  • SweetPea2022SweetPea2022 Posts: 42
    I was wondering about taking some of the stems down to 1ft-3ft (different site say different things) and then do the same next year with the older stems to try to get more growth at the bottom of the plant - would that work? 
  • AnniDAnniD Posts: 12,585
    This is just what l would do, so l stand to be corrected :) .

     I would cut it back to what looks around 18 inches judging by the fence. Basically the lower set of green leaves.
    I would then give it a mulch of garden compost or similar (assuming the ground isn't frozen), and possibly a feed around April time.
    Try and keep an eye on the growth as they do have a habit of running amok in a couple of days (in my experience), and tie it in as it grows.
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    I have a Lon. Graham Thomas which flowers throughout the summer … probably from mid to late May onwards … it’s a very vigorous plant and does have to be trimmed back occasionally (every 2-3 years or so) … I have to leave that until autumn because it’s a favourite nesting place for our dunnocks.  It’s worth letting it get a bit thick and tangled just for that 😃 

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





  • CrankyYankeeCrankyYankee Posts: 504
    GardenerSuze said:
    Honeysuckle is not a naturally a tidy plant if left to roam.

    So true!  My mother has a honeysuckle hedge and it's a beast.  About every three or four years she attacks it with a saw and cuts it down to next to nothing, and it always comes back beautifully.  I'm not sure the variety, though, but they've been here since she bought the property in the early 70s.
    New England, USA
    Metacomet soil with hints of Woodbridge and Pillsbury
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    I'd also cut that back quite hard, but - they aren't very good choices for a fence IMO. Best through a hedge or shrubs, or over a building - shed/garage etc, because of their messy scrambling habit. 

    If you have a better site for it, you could take cuttings and start again, which is another idea if you didn't fancy moving it.  :)
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    The thing about honeysuckle is that it likes it's feet in the cool damp shade, and it's face in the sun, so tends not to flower until it gets near to the top of it's support ... and then it branches out more and goes bushy and top-heavy ... it's its nature.  

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





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