I built this trellis and planted two varieties of honeysuckle in front of it, maybe 7 years ago, thinking they would mingle and mix. One of them, a Japanese variety, took off, and the other barely grew: after 3 years it had scarcely grown from the potted size I bought it at. Then I began pruning it. This seemed counter intuitive: it had much less foliage than I wanted so why cut what little was there? But it stimulated more growth than it subtracted. And a few years later, the two varieties are now of a comparable size in my hedge! I have a calendar reminder of what time of year to go prune and I do it diligently. Lessons learned!

  • Venutian Spring
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    11 year ago

    Looking good, they’re coming along nicely. I need to plant some honeysuckle on my property, never considered it before but my wife loves the stuff

    • @The_K
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      31 year ago

      Be careful. It is considered an invasive plant in midwestern US. It’s presently taking over my back yard.

      • Venutian Spring
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        31 year ago

        I live in the south and there are some species native to the region. They do grow like crazy, but I have a living fence line on the front of my property and would rather something that smells and looks nice there. Plus, they are good for bees and I’m about to get a few hives next spring.

  • @asclepias
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    11 year ago

    I spend an inordinate amount of time tearing out Japanese honeysuckle where I live because it is invasive here. I didn’t think it could do anything but take off no matter what you did. What’s the other kind you have?

    • @scarabicOPM
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      11 year ago

      Ah I believe it. It’s only invaded the space I made for it but it has grown very robustly. I’m not sure what the other variety is… it actually could be a jasmine.