How to Grow a Honeysuckle Vine

Honeysuckle is an old fashion flowering vine. As children, we grew up sipping the sweet honey from the flower. As adults, we grow it in our yard. We enjoy the sweet scented red, orange and yellow flowers that bloom from spring to frost. Grow honeysuckle over a trellis, a rock wall, chain fence or even a mailbox. Here are some tips on how to grow a honeysuckle vine.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Nursery grown honeysuckle
• Compost or manure
• All purpose fertilizer
• Shovel
• Hose
• Mulch
• Trellis, fence or wall
• Sunny with part shade growing site

1. 
    
   One year old honeysuckle

   Plant nursery grown vines in the spring after the danger of frost has past.

2. 
    
   Honeysuckle on rock wall

   Select a planting site that has a minimum of six hours of sun per day. Honeysuckle will tolerate some afternoon shade. My vine flourishes in partial afternoon shade. During the summer months, our heat is extreme so the afternoon shade protects the honeysuckle vine from the heat of the day.

3. Clear the planting site of grass, weeds and rocks. Turn over one foot of the soil until it is loose. Mix in compost or manure; also mix in a slow release fertilizer.

4. 
    
   Honeysuckle in fall

   Plant the honeysuckle the same depth as the nursery pot. Allow eighteen inches in-between plants. Place a trellis directly behind the vine. This will support the vines as they climb. Water the plants thoroughly. Keep the soil evenly moist throughout the growing season. Do not allow the soil to dry out. It takes two years to establish the vines in your garden. Once established the honeysuckle is drought tolerant.

5. 
    
   Mulch

   Apply 2-3 inches of mulch around the base of the plants.

6. 
    
   Liquid fertilizer

   Fertilize the honeysuckle in the spring. Use an all-purpose fertilizer. I attach a miraclegrow hose feeder and water my honeysuckle thoroughly in spring after the danger of frost has past.

7. 
    
   Pruned honeysuckle

   Prune your honey suckle after it flowers. Do this to keep its shape.

Tips & Warnings

• Add vines to hanging baskets.
• Cut honeysuckle and add to floral arrangements.
• Grow honeysuckle along a chain link fence the vine will conceal the fence with a blanket of greenery and flowers.
• Honeysuckle attracts butterflies, hummingbirds, and children of all ages to your yard.
• Honeysuckle also attracts bees.

Resources

• Designers Secrets for Yard and Garden
• Honeysuckle

[bar10dr98]

on 12/9/2009 Beautiful pics, honeysuckle is one of my favorites!

[sanderdoe]

on 8/22/2009 Honeysuckle grows quite wild in our part of the country. I love the smell of it and let it have free reign wherever it grows.5*

[Gardengates]

on 8/22/2009 Excellent tips on growing honeysuckles. And don't forget to look at some of the less common types in bright colors like pink, yellow, red and orange!

[CCrock]

on 8/19/2009 This is a great and helpful article! my husband loves honeysuckle so when we get a house, I'll have to use this article!

[goodselfme]

on 8/11/2009 thank you for the garden tips to grow Honeysuckle. 5*