am taking a few days off work to do some much needed jobs in the front border where everything is overcrowded. basically re-arranging and dumping a lot of things i never liked from when i moved in.

the honeysuckle needs pruning & i'm wondering what the correct method is? Its the standard type variety you see growing in this country with reddish flowers which come in both spring & autumn. Plan is to prune & then move to grow up a big tree

Lonicera periclymenum the common honeysuckle - or one or its forms - that flowers from early to late summer. I would cut back flowered shoots by one third immediately after flowering. Alternatively plants may be left unpruned and allowed to scramble at will where space permits. However, neglected and unpruned plants tend to bare at the base.
If you are moving it I would do so any time during winter when the weather is suitable and the ground workable. Cut all stems back to around 45cm before moving.

Lonicera japonica which blooms all summer and into the autumn on current year's wood are pruned in spring merely to keep within their allotted space. Thin out tangled/congested growth and reduce over long growths. Where renovation of older plants is required do so in early spring by cutting all stems back to around 45cm of the ground.

Many gardeners leave the honeysuckle unpruned for too long and the site of the tangled mass of a neglected specimen is daunting. It is then necessary to be drastic and renovate as above. The ideal is to carry out pruning annually from when the plant is young once a framework of branches has been established on the support used.

There is of course the alternative view that says leave the honeysuckle to ramble - but that will lead to a tangled mass, often bare at the base and fewer flowers, and in some cases too heavy for it's supporting structure.

In article ,
Tiger303 writes:
|
| am taking a few days off work to do some much needed jobs in the front
| border where everything is overcrowded. basically re-arranging and
| dumping a lot of things i never liked from when i moved in.
|
| the honeysuckle needs pruning & i'm wondering what the correct method
| is? Its the standard type variety you see growing in this country with
| reddish flowers which come in both spring & autumn. Plan is to prune &
| then move to grow up a big tree

You can prune both L. periclymenum and L. japonica hard, even shearing
them off at ground level - but, if you do that to some others, they
will die. The key is to see if they shoot from ground level - if so,
do as "Plantsman" says and cut them back to a couple of feet above
ground level when moving.

That is not a good idea more than occasionally, as they will not like
it being done very often and may not flower for a year or so.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

(Nick Maclaren) wrote in news:comuuq$p3h$1
@gemini.csx.cam.ac.uk:

You can prune both L. periclymenum and L. japonica hard, even shearing
them off at ground level - but, if you do that to some others, they
will die. The key is to see if they shoot from ground level - if so,
do as "Plantsman" says and cut them back to a couple of feet above
ground level when moving.

That is not a good idea more than occasionally, as they will not like
it being done very often and may not flower for a year or so.

I've found it a good idea to prune out the older and more bushy shoots each
year.

It seems to help prevent greenfly. (not always a problems for honeysuckle,
but mine always seem to get it: I think the soil may be a bit too dry.
Could try watering instead, but it's easier to give it a quick chop with
the secateurs once a year than water all summer).

I agree hard pruning needs some caution, and the plant will take a while to
get over it.

Victoria
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gardening on a north-facing hill
in South-East Cornwall
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