Honeysuckle (Lonicera spp.) are hardy shrubs or vines that when in flower provide perfumed memories that last a lifetime. I urge you to find a little vertical space, tucked near a bedroom window and you will have the most wonderful sweet dreams on a warm summers night.
Many people think Honeysuckle is a tough and sometimes out of control vine, however with some care it is a charming addition to your garden. Late spring and summer is an ideal time to prune most honeysuckle vines once they have finished flowering and are in full leaf. Prune very lightly, removing old faded flowers during the growing season to encourage new growth.
If you have a monster plant that may have grown untended for a few years don’t worry you can cut the plant back by at least one third, but you need to take care to take out much of the dead wood under the “skirt” of the plant, right back to the trunk of the plant.
Once you have taken cuttings you can use these to create a whole hedge of honeysuckle along a boundary fence or over an old shed. In late summer the cuttings will root very quickly, simple keep them in water until roots form or water and place deeply into sandy potting mix and by next spring they should have taken root and be ready to plant out.
Other than an occasional prune these plants are very hardy, drought tolerant and not very fussy about soil, in my experience growing in dry sandy and hard clay equally well, although they do need at least 2-3 hours of sun to get a good flush of flowers.
The Garden Times 