Coral honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens)
How to Plant, Grow, and Care for Honeysuckle
Honeysuckle is planted much like other perennial shrubs. Full or partial sunshine, some fertile soil, and mulch are the keys to remember when planting this vine.
When to Plant Honeysuckle
You can’t go wrong with planting honeysuckle in spring or early summer. Doing so will offer maximum time for your new plant to root and get settled before the cold weather arrives. However, fall planting can also work depending on your location and the variety you choose.
Plant your honeysuckles at least six weeks before the frost if you garden in an area where the ground freezes.
How to Plant Honeysuckle
Select a location with adequate drainage. Honeysuckle appreciates moist soil but not soggy conditions. If your soil is heavy, poorly draining clay, consider making a large raised berm to plant your honeysuckle in.
- Dig a hole twice as wide as the rootball and the same depth. The hole should resemble a shallow bowl, not a coffee cup.
- When setting the plant in the hole, the crown should be at the same height in the soil level as it was in the nursery pot. Don’t bury it several inches deep like a tomato.
- Work some compost into the soil and plant your honeysuckle. If the roots are heavily circled or overgrown, you may need to loosen them first. Use a handheld garden tool to cut any girdling roots and loosen up the root ball.
- Set your honeysuckle in the hole and begin backfilling with the soil you removed. Be sure to firm the soil to eliminate air pockets around the roots.
- Make a shallow ring around the plant with the leftover soil to help the water infiltrate into the root zone and not run off. Water your new plant well.
- Mulch around the base, but don’t mound the mulch around the stem. Mulch touching the stem can sometimes lead to rot and disease. Read more about using mulch.
Honeysuckle will grow in both full sun and light shade. You’ll get more blooms if you plant in a location with six hours per day of sunshine, however. Many honeysuckles are hardy in USDA zones 4-9, but check the cultivar you intend to plant to be sure.
- If you intend for your honeysuckle to climb a fence, arbor, or other support, give it a hand. Use some biodegradable twine and loosely tie the vine to its support. Use a loop about the size of a golf ball. When the vine gets large, it will have attached to the structure on its own, and the string will decompose.
- Many Lonicera spp. prefer to have their roots shaded, but the vines enjoy the sunshine. Mulch at the base of your vines if they are climbing a trellis or arbor.
- You can also plant low-growing ground cover plants around the base or tuck the vine in behind another shrub to shade your honeysuckle’s roots.
- Provide water weekly when newly planted. After the first growing season, honeysuckle should only need to be watered during prolonged dry periods.
- Fertilize if desired in spring with a slow-release general-purpose fertilizer.
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I have mature orange very tall honeysuckle. It is dying. No flowers or leaves. We had bleach put in our well water for watering the yard. Watered every night. Could this kill honeysuckle?
Hi Suzann,
Sorry to hear about your honeysuckle. Bleach can be very harmful to plants and could very well be the reason that your honeysuckle is suffering.
There are also other factors that can lead to a honeysuckle’s decline. You mentioned that you watered every night, but well established honeysuckle plants actually prefer to dry out between waterings and do not like very damp conditions. Too much water will create issues for your plant. Over-fertilizing can also prevent a honeysuckle from setting flowers.
I live in Toronto, Ontario & am fortunate to have had success at growing a Japonica honeysuckle vine for the past 3 years in a container on my condo balcony, west facing, direct sun from 1:00 to 7:00 pm. It started off very healthy this spring, leaves appearing daily, but more recently, the leaves shaded by the newer growth underneath, are turning yellow, then drying to brown & falling off. Bc of facing west, and the fact leaves are brown & drying, I water daily. But am I watering too much?? How do I know?? Your advice is appreciated.
I have a honey suckle, can I take a branch off (put in water until I get roots) to plant another one? Would the branch be one with the flowers?
Yes! Honeysuckle is one of the easiest bushes to propagate through cuttings. Wait until early spring flowers has tapered off. Then—or anytime thereafter until, say, midsummer—the plant will make vigorous non-flowering branches appropriate for softwood cuttings; there should be no sign of floral buds. With a sharp knife, sever a stem just below a pair of leaves, yielding a tip cutting 3 to 6 inches long. The lowest one or two pairs of leaves should be removed. Honeysuckle grows so vigorously that application of rooting hormones is optional. The cut end of the stem should then be inserted about one inch deep into a container with rooting media such as natural clean sand, coconut coir, and horticultural products like perlite, vermiculite, and rock wool—anything that holds water to keep plant hydrated but is loose enough to get air to the roots (versus compacted). Once the cuttings have been inserted into the rooting medium, they just need time, moderately humid air, and moderately bright light in order to establish their new roots.
Honeysuckle scent is stupendous; we used to eat the blossoms to get the nectar;
This will be my first try at gardening in some time. I must have them...they remind me of childhood. They do taste and smell scrumptious!
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