Honeysuckle Habitat
Honeysuckle (Lonicera) is available in many forms. There are evergreen vines such as variety giant Burmese honeysucke (L. hildebrandiana) or deciduous vines like woodbine that are only evergreen in very mild winter areas. Honeysuckles also come in shrub form with winter honeysuckle ( L. fragrantissima) losing its leaves and box honeysuckle (L. nitida) staying densely leafed all year round. What they all have in common is their tubular shaped flowers exuding sweet fragrance and attracting birds to the garden from spring through fall with nectar, seed, and insects. Does this Spark an idea?
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Air, Light and Water
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Honeysuckle enjoys a sunny exposure but thrives in light shade also. Many types do well in the salty air of the seashore. Once established, it only needs moderate summer watering as the shrub and vine types both tolerate some drought conditions.
Vine Growth
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Although delicate and beautiful, the honeysuckle vine is opportunist and will smother a nearby plant if not properly trained. The evergreen and deciduous honeysuckle of the vine types must have support. A vine's survival comes from its ability to grow upward rapidly without taking time to produce a woody stem strong enough to support itself. The vine sends out quantities of stems that run along the soil surface until it finds something to climb and reach the light. It is to the gardener's advantage to provide this climbing structure and train the vine as desired because the honeysuckle will be just as happy climbing and smothering a nearby favorite rose bush.
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Support Options
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A lattice, arbor or fence provide excellent support for the honeysuckle vine. They can also sprawl across large boulders and down slopes for a more natural habitat. Planted at the base of a tree, they can be trained to climb the tree and hang down from the branches. Special nails are made for stone or brick walls for small vines that have strips of metal attached to the head of the nails for bending around the vine stem to hold it in place. Larger vines can receive support from a lattice permanently attached to a masonry wall.
Soil
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As a general rule, the honeysuckle is not fussy about soil. To enhance flowering however, provide a rich, friable sandy loam medium. If planting a young new lonicera, shrub or vine, dig down a foot and add 1 part well rotted manure to 3 parts soil, mixing together thoroughly. An established plant will benefit from an annual mulch of well rotted manure.
Pruning
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Some varieties of honeysuckle need severe spring pruning to prevent undergrowth from building up. Others require only light pruning to thin out older stems. Still others can simply be pruned to a particular size and shape based on the gardener's desire. Vine honeysuckle can be pruned into a shrub form while shrub types can be sheared into a privacy hedge.
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References
Resources
- Photo Credit honeysuckle image by Jackie DeBusk from Fotolia.com Wild Honeysuckle 1 image by DelB from Fotolia.com
