Hi All,

I am not one for green fingered activities in my garden but I could do with
some advice.
I have 2 6 year old honeysuckle's that basically cover a wooden gazebo, one
from either side. It always puts on a good show but I fell its time to give
it a good hair cut. Firstly, when is the best time to do this and secondly
just how far back should I trim it?

Thanks in advance for your help

Pete

"Nothing is impossible", remember professionals built titanic and amateurs
built the Ark !

www.skydat.com
www.avara.co.uk



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In message , Bads
writes

I have 2 6 year old honeysuckle's that basically cover a wooden gazebo, one
from either side. It always puts on a good show but I fell its time to give
it a good hair cut. Firstly, when is the best time to do this and secondly
just how far back should I trim it?

Not sure about the right time exactly but now is probably a good a time
as any. To ensure flowering you want to give them a chance to recover
and fill in the gaps you create when pruning. You describe expecting to
give them a haircut. This implies you expect to trim away from the
outside but I think when you start you'll realise you're going to have
more fun than that.
As honeysuckle grows it puts on new growth on the outside leaving
numerous bare brown stems within the structure. It is these bare stems
that you really want to be pruning out whilst leaving the new leafy
growth to settle into the space you create. This means getting to the
inside and working outwards. I don't think it is possible to prune a
honeysuckle back too far, they're very tough. Have Fun.

--
dave @ stejonda

calculate your ecological footprint http://www.lead.org/leadnet/footprint/

In article ,
dave @ stejonda wrote:
In message , Bads
writes

I have 2 6 year old honeysuckle's that basically cover a wooden gazebo, one
from either side. It always puts on a good show but I fell its time to give
it a good hair cut. Firstly, when is the best time to do this and secondly
just how far back should I trim it?

Not sure about the right time exactly but now is probably a good a time
as any. To ensure flowering you want to give them a chance to recover
and fill in the gaps you create when pruning. You describe expecting to
give them a haircut. This implies you expect to trim away from the
outside but I think when you start you'll realise you're going to have
more fun than that.
As honeysuckle grows it puts on new growth on the outside leaving
numerous bare brown stems within the structure. It is these bare stems
that you really want to be pruning out whilst leaving the new leafy
growth to settle into the space you create. This means getting to the
inside and working outwards. I don't think it is possible to prune a
honeysuckle back too far, they're very tough. Have Fun.

Yes and no. That certainly applies to the species that shoot from
the base, like L. japonica - in extremis, you can cut them down to
ground level now, and they will grow like crazy in the spring. But
some species (e.g. the cross L. x tellmanniana) don't do that, and
you may kill them if you cut them back too hard.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren,
University of Cambridge Computing Service,
New Museums Site, Pembroke Street, Cambridge CB2 3QH, England.
Email:
Tel.: +44 1223 334761 Fax: +44 1223 334679