Decorative honeysuckle: planting and care features

Decorative curly honeysuckle includes: many forms, different appearance, frost resistance, distribution area. The plant enjoys a well-deserved love of landscape designers - from the Russian suburbs, Ukrainian Carpathians to European provincial cities. Creeping culture is suitable for vertical gardening, fencing sites, creating arches, green panels at the walls of buildings. Honeysuckle decorates and revitalizes the garden.

Botanical Description

The most ancient and famous cultural type of honeysuckle is Honeysuckle (in translation - fragrant). Flowering of this species occurs earlier than others, in June . Lonicera - ornamental shrub, belongs to the family of honeysuckle (Caprifoliaceae). Honeysuckle owes its Latin name Lonicera to Adam Loniser (1528–1586), a doctor from Germany, he was also a philologist, botanist and the first to publish a herbalist (ancient plant encyclopedia).

Most often, this kind of weaving honeysuckle was grown in the gardens of European countries. The genus of honeysuckle includes up to 200 species of shrubs and vines, including crops with edible fruits. In gardening, preference is given to decorative creeping (weaving) species. At an early age, the shoots have a pistachio hue, later they become purple or brown.

Stems with dense foliage of dark green color rise up to a height of 6 m. The foliage has a gray tint from the bottom. The flowers are incredibly beautiful and very fragrant. Fruits are painted in bright colors, in curly forms they are often poisonous. A certain number of pairs of upper leaves on growth (usually 12 pairs) are fused with the main part, creating a plate in the shape of an ellipse.

Characteristic

There are many decorative types of climbing honeysuckle crops. They are created by breeders in many countries. Often gardeners themselves do not understand what kind of variety is growing on the site and what characteristics are inherent in it, since unscrupulous and uninformed sellers quite often present the served crops as a honeysuckle. Read also articles on this topic:

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Frost and drought resistance

There are practically no differences between one variety or another in cultivation. Only frost resistance of plants can vary. One - shelter is necessary, others - survive the wintering painlessly. Moreover, even if some stems freeze over during the winter, in spring they quickly recover. Plants tolerate drought well.

Enough for abundant flowering and the appearance of fruits to create favorable conditions, which include:

  • good mulching of the soil;
  • landing in favorable soil.

When creating such conditions, the honeysuckle culture can be watered only 3-4 times a season.

Bloom

The flowering period for each variety of climbing creeper lianoid culture may vary slightly. Usually the appearance of flowers begins from the beginning of summer and lasts until late autumn. About 3 weeks you can enjoy the abundance of flowers and their fragrance, later the fruits will begin to appear.

Honeysuckle flowering can be increased or even re-emergence of flowers can be achieved if summer pruning of old shoots is carried out. Buds will appear on young lateral growths over time, honeysuckle will again delight hosts with its aroma.

Features of the fruit

The fruits of the honeysuckle culture, growing in pairs, are poisonous and suitable for consumption. Inedible fruits: red, crimson, black and orange. The fruits of the honeysuckle of blue are edible. Another difference between edible and inedible berries is their size and shape.

  1. Inedible berries are small and round.
  2. Edible berries are large and oblong.

Honeysuckle culture is the earliest fruiting of berry crops. Fruits appear before strawberries for a couple of weeks.

Important! When deciding on a place to plant, you need to remember that lianas must cling to something, so they will require support. When planting a plant against a wall, galvanized wire can be used to direct shoot growth.

Landing rules

Having a desire to plant curly decorative honeysuckle on the site, you should carefully study the varietal characteristics of the plant. It is also important to determine the right place to land. The abundant appearance of flowers and fruits will depend on this. Prepare the holes and the soil, plant the plant on time and ensure proper care.

The timing

At the end of April, cuttings of climbing honeysuckle are rooted in the open ground in the garden. In autumn, during October, seeds are sown and cuttings are carried out. In autumn and spring, layering from the mother plant is planted.

Find out why young honeysuckle does not take root well and does not bear fruit.

Site selection, well preparation

Each gardener will be able to grow the plant, regardless of the level of his skills, the main thing is to choose the proper place for growing, prepare planting pits and provide all conditions for care.

For landing, it is preferable to choose the side from the south. Light partial shade will not affect flowering and fruiting. If you plant a plant in a very shaded place, the growth will not slow down, continue to trail shoots, but the flowers will not appear so intensely. Species that curl grow both in light shade and in sunny areas. Vines twist well if sunlight hits the stems.

Since decorative honeysuckle flowers attract bees and other insects, the plant needs to be planted away from the gazebo, where people are located for relaxation. Support structures for climbing varieties are better to build and install immediately before planting, so as not to damage the roots when the plant begins to grow. The support obelisks look very attractive and spectacular. They can be made of different materials: metal (the strongest and most reliable support), willow rods and wooden battens. Did you know? From Japanese honeysuckle you can grow homemade bonsai by properly shaping and twisting the shoots.

Honeysuckle grows well in different types of soils, but, like many other plants, it prefers well-drained, loose, humus-rich soil. Decorative honeysuckle does not like soils with the advantage of sand and clay, as well as wetlands. Soils with a neutral alkaline reaction (pH from 5.5 to 8) are well suited.

Landing holes need to be prepared in advance (2-3 weeks before disembarkation), digging them to a depth of 30 cm . The diameter of each pit should be 30–40 cm, depending on the size of the root system. As drainage use broken tiles, bricks or pebbles. Wells are filled with organic substances: compost, peat, in a small amount of bark of coniferous trees and minerals - 20 g of nitrophoska per 1 plant.

Selection and preparation of planting material

Saplings with an open root system can be 2-3 years of age. They should have from 2-3 shoots 40-50 cm long. Attention should be paid to the appearance of growths. Dryness and bursting bark should not be. They should bend freely. Peeling on the cortex is possible - this is the norm.

The roots of the plant should be without signs of rot. Multiple kidneys are required. It is advisable to buy seedlings from trusted suppliers, in nurseries or at garden exhibitions.

You need to get full information about the plant from them:

  • the exact name of the variety;
  • Features of planting and care.

Learn how to properly plant honeysuckle seedlings in the spring in the ground.

Landing pattern

Honeysuckle is an unpretentious culture, however, when planting, it is necessary to follow all stages, not ignoring any of them. It should also be borne in mind that the chosen place will be permanent, since the honeysuckle is not transplanted. It grows in one place for at least 20–25 years or more.

  1. Drainage material is placed in the prepared hole, enriching it with fertile soil and minerals.
  2. Water is poured into the landing pit — 5 liters.
  3. The seedling is set so that the root neck is not at the level of the soil surface.
  4. Water the plant in stages so that the water slowly fills the soil.
  5. Compost, dry leaves or humus mulch the soil. The layer should be 4-5 cm.

Care Rules

The first time after planting the honeysuckle you need regular watering. This is the main stage of care, guaranteeing success at the initial stage of plant growth. It is very important to keep the soil evenly moist. A good layer of mulch, introduced after planting, will not allow water to evaporate from the soil at a fast pace.

If the honeysuckle culture will grow in fertile soil, fertilizers are practically not needed. It will be possible to stimulate flowering by applying spring fertilizers with a low nitrogen content. Did you know? The honeysuckle culture with flaky bark is popularly called "shamelessness."

Curly varieties require only supporting pruning. It will be necessary to cut off predominantly dead, weak and too long shoots in the spring.

Harvesting and storage of crops

When the berries are blue, and this usually happens in early June, you should not rush to take them off. You need to wait at least a week for full maturity. There are varieties that, when ripe, quickly crumble themselves. Then you can put a film on the ground so that they do not get dirty during spontaneous shedding, and remove the remaining crop not by hand, but by shaking off the fruits.

Fold the fruits neatly, they crumple quickly. Capacity is better to use flat. The berries are stored for a short time even in the refrigerator, about 5-7 days. It is better to freeze them immediately, you can dry, cook compote, mashed potatoes or preserves for the winter. To eat fresh, the berries are ground with sugar in a 1: 1 ratio.

Winter preparations

Decorative honeysuckle is quite frost-resistant, but curly varieties are better to bend to the ground. You can cover with spruce branches, fallen leaves.

Breeding methods

Honeysuckle can be propagated in 4 ways:

Important! Reproduction by seeds does not preserve the varietal properties of the plant.

  1. The seeds . Gardeners describe this method as the longest, because the first flowers can be seen in 4-5 years.

  2. Cuttings . They are immediately planted in light soil for rooting in a shaded area. In the absence of a greenhouse in the area, namely in it, it is easiest to maintain high humidity, the cuttings can be covered with chopped plastic bottles without a lid. Flowering will begin a couple of years after planting

  3. Layering . The easiest way. A prerequisite for such reproduction is the presence of annual shoots in the plant. It happens that during the winter they freeze and it is impossible to use this method.

  4. By dividing the bush . Easy way, suitable for propagation of plants not older than 5 years.

Diseases and Pests

Resistance to diseases is high. Of the pests, only aphids should beware, it sucks the juices from the foliage. To attract insects of ladybugs and lacewings - natural enemies of aphids, one should plant dill, cumin or coriander near the honeysuckle.

For a serious fight against aphids, insecticides are used:

  • “Actellik” - dilute 1 ampoule of the agent in 1.5 l of water and treat 1 bush;
  • "Actara" 0.2% - 30-50 ml of the product is diluted in 1 liter of water and poured 250 ml under each bush.

The most popular varieties

Gardeners give preference to some favorite climbing varieties:

  1. Cream Cloud - plant-loach fits perfectly into the decoration of any surfaces of vertical weaving. Flowering will delight 90 days, whips are understood up to 3 m in height. The buds have a beautiful pink tint, exuding a honey aroma. The variety is unpretentious.
  2. Sandman is an evergreen lianoid shrub. Flowering will last from mid-summer to mid-autumn. The flowers are dark boron in color, and the fruits are red with an orange tint (inedible).
  3. Summer King is a creeper plant, striking the eye with an unusual form of inflorescences and fragrant aroma. Buds of a gentle peach shade. The height of weaving shoots reaches 3 meters.
  4. Lola is a liana decorated with beautiful flowers with decorative foliage.
  5. Grape yellow, orange - climbers. Grape climbing vines wrap around vertical objects. In landscape design, plants are indispensable. The flowers are white with a pink tint and yellow. Berries are inedible.

Gardeners also love filamentous honeysuckle, which is woven to a height of 2 to 4 m and has flowers of reddish-orange flowers that exude a honey-spicy aroma. The abundant flowering of honeysuckle climbing crops is pleasing to the eye. The plant covers vertical structures with greenery. Growing honeysuckle in your garden, you can enjoy the fragrance of flowers all summer and the first months of autumn. And planting varieties with edible berries, you can get great raw materials for the preparation of many dishes.

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