Honeysuckle and how to prune its bushes

Pruning honeysuckle is necessary for comfortable growth and active development of it, since honeysuckle grows in the form of a bush.

Briefly about honeysuckle

Honeysuckle

Honeysuckle is a shrub from the honeysuckle family. This is an early plant, it begins to bloom at the end of the spring period. It stops its active growth with the arrival of autumn, as soon as the air temperature begins to drop rapidly. It is because of this that the culture is considered highly resistant to frost. It begins to bear fruit only in the fourth year after disembarkation. In the very first year after planting, the plant will develop its root system, even if it is already two to three years old. Because of this, this crop is not recommended to be planted in the autumn.

In total, in this plant species, five main life cycles can be distinguished:

1) preparatory time, that is, the embryonic stage;

2) the formation of the crop, but not in full force;

3) peak of fruiting;

4) decline in fruiting;

5) the withering away and obsolescence of already old branches of the plant.

But it is important to note that the third and fourth cycles can replace each other, depending on the quality of care and the variety of the variety. The most interesting thing is that with proper care, the honeysuckle bush can bear fruit for up to one hundred and fifty years.

Pruning honeysuckle: the right time

Honeysuckle varieties

A honeysuckle bush can be considered young if it is not yet bearing too much fruit. The crop grows from a rudimentary cycle to a stage of insufficient productivity around the third or fourth year after planting. Until this moment, pruning is not necessary, due to the fact that there is a danger of damage to the still young and dormant buds of the foliage. If you cut off its layers in the first four years of life, then the bush will no longer be able to form new ones, and because of this, you will have to cut the branches right at the root. After that, the bush will begin its stages of life from the very beginning to form new shoots and buds.

You can prune already adapted honeysuckle at the age of four years at the beginning of the autumn period, when it has already shed its foliage. It is necessary to remove all root layers that are too close to the ground, or grow horizontally. You also need to cut off all thin, diseased, damaged branches and overgrowths. The first time you prune a bush, you only need to leave four to six skeletal branches.

After this, the bush will be able to perfectly endure the winter period. To keep moisture in the soil better, you need to mulch it for the winter. Over time, the number of layers can increase to fourteen pieces.

The fruiting cycle directly depends on the type of shrub, for some it can last up to twenty years. As you can see, pruning the honeysuckle is very important for a good fruiting shrub.

Honeysuckle photo