I am a real fan of lonicera nitada B Gold, especially in shade where its new growth is lime rather than yellow. It is the most obliging shrub as it clothes itself right down to the ground, rarely gets a bald patch, can be trimmed at any time, and copes with drought. What's not to love ... IMV. 🙂
Yes, mine is L. Baggesen's Gold! I started with one plant and took loads of cuttings to make a dwarf hedge on the cheap (no spare cash back then). I've had it for probably something like 25 years so it's definitely possible to keep it small in the long term.
For trimming I use whatever I have to hand. Sometimes the one-handed shears that I also use for edging the lawn, sometimes my Burgon and Ball shrub shear, sometimes the mini hedge clipper attachment from my Bosch Isio, and sometimes I snip out odd longer/thicker bits with secateurs. Whatever's handy really.
Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
You can use anything from a pair of nail scissors to a heavy duty hedge trimmer. It doesn't seem to mind. 🙂 I like them as individual plants rather than a hedge per se, so I just secateur out bits that have grown straggly.
Our B. Gold was in the garden when we arrived in 1987 and was well established. Over the years it has been tall and short, square and round. At the moment it's 5' tall and square.
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It is also very easy to propagate from cuttings.
Now all you hedge experts - what do you use to trim your lonicera hedges? (Christmas is just around the corner right….)