Honeysuckle + trellis =

I have a little trellis fence in my garden that I would like to train some climbers on. See pic.

Today I bought three honeysuckle plants, two early Dutch and one similus.

I've never planted a climber before. I think this will be reasonably easy for a first timer... If I understand correctly, I should plant about 1 foot away from the fence? I've got some garden twine that I'm going to use to tie the honeysuckle vines to the trellis.

Should I weave the vines in and out of the trellis at this point? Should I aim to place the vines horizontally or at 45° rather than straight up?

Please let me know if you have any other advice or there's anything I haven't considered...

 

I'm not an expert on the subject but this year I have tried to start off a few climber that so far seem to be doing ok.

That piece of fence isn't particularly big. I would say that one climber would cover that easily.

You can either plant your climber in the middle or at one end depending on the effect you were hoping for.

The way you spread the shoots out depends on how many shoots you have. I just try to fan them out evenly. Side shoots will soon start to grow. Next year, once the plant has settled down you will be able to start shaping a bit. I don't think weaving the vines would help. I think it will be easier to prune and control if the main growth is all on one side. I'm sure that once the plant has matured there will be more than enough foliage to grow through the gaps.

That is my take on it at any rate. Hopefully somebody else who knows what they are talking about will jump in and bail me out.

G.

 

Agree with that analysis from Gary Kon

How wide is it there? 450 cm?

All the honeysuckles you mention are vigorous and will be heavy so make sure those fences are robust and well founded

I too would plant just one climber there.....middle for me. No need to plant a foot away if soil is free of concrete etc. ...essential if on a wall though. I would dig in plenty of compost when you plant it plus a good organic fertiliser. A generous watering. A thick mulch too. Untie the stems, separate them and space them well apart.....push one or two stems through the trellis and next spring and throughout the summer continue to tie in new stems. Yes, at an angle and not upright. Tie loosely and check ties regularly. By next summer the stems will be woody.

I would plant a shrub at either end to break up the one dimensional line of planting....camellia, or a conifer like taxus Standishii. However, you could plant compact clematis at either end too if it’s a lot of summer colour you are after

 

Oops! We crossed there ARMANDII

 

Ha ha ARMANDII......it’s all part of the fun and jostling of gardening. It’s good to have different viewpoints and to respect all of them

 

Thanks so much for all your advice guys! I managed to get the two early Dutch honeysuckles in the ground between the showers. I'll save the other one for somewhere else.

Will mulch tomorrow :P

 

Enjoy them Kon.....the scent of those honeysuckles will be a delight next summer

 

Hi Kon,

In your opening post you said you were wanting to cover the trellis, is that all you want to cover as others are really talking about it climbing all along the fence ?

To my mind if its just the trellis you are looking to cover they are going to be too vigorous and will need constant pruning and training, which will likely lead to some loss of flowers.

If you want them to climb down one or two of the fence panels then thats fine, you can just use some wires and screws and tie them to that.

 

Thanks! I had the trellis in mind primarily, but would be very happy for them to spread along the fence panels too

 

Am thinking of a trellis archway as well, with the honeysuckle climbing over it

 

@ARMANDII

You keep telling me to add more climbers, whereas everyone else is telling me that the two honeysuckles I've planted are too vigorous, and I need to give them more environment to spread out!