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