Ailing(?) honeysuckle - what should I do?

Hi everyone, hoping for some suggestions about this climbing honeysuckle. It flowered pretty well but some of the berries don't seem to have developed well at all and it's lost pretty much all its leaves very suddenly. It's also a complete tangled mess due to a few years of neglect, and there's some bindweed trying to get in there now too.

a) Is it salvageable?
b) If so, is it a good time to cut the whole thing back hard, or should I wait until later in the autumn/winter?

 

Welcome, @orbitingstar
Your honeysuckle doesn't look like it has much soil to grow in, and is in the rain shadow of the fence. I suspect it has suffered from drought, especially since it has now grown larger and has a lot more top-growth to support.
Personally, I would cut the whole thing back to about 60cm in the winter.

 

Difficult to tell the depth of the bed from the photos but it certainly needs a good sort out. The fence needn't always be a problem as it will also depend on which direction your plant is facing and your prevailing wind which can also have a drying effect.
As you have discovered, in a somewhat restricted area, it's best to give it a prune every year to enable it to put on fresh growth.
Clearing the bed of competing weeds and perhaps adding a layer of mulch over the base ( if possible ) and cutting back as suggested by @BobTG will certainly benefit the plant and help it produce some decent shoots for next year.
Good luck

 

Thank you so much @BobTG and @Philippa. I think you may be right about the rain shadow effect - the fence is only about 2 metres from our house wall.

I will certainly clear the weeds and see what’s under the gravel - weed membrane, I suspect, but I’m more than willing to take that up and mulch as you suggest. How long should I wait to cut it back? Can I do it in October or does it have to be Jan/Feb?

 

If cut back too early, it may produce new shoots which will likely get damaged by frosts, so I would wait until November at the earliest.

 

I've taken out the weeds and bindweed (though I'm aware that's a bit of a never-ending job!) and had a quick peek under the membrane. Soil looks damp but pretty compressed.

I'm thinking of lifting the membrane and gravel and giving the whole area a good digging over/soil improver treatment. Is it smart to do that soon or should I leave it till winter as well?

 

Sounds perfect to me! I would get a few bags of manure from the GC and dig half of that in, spreading the rest on top once you have dug the area over. Leave it over winter and the worms will gradually take it down, hopefully leaving a nice soil by planting time. Hopefully you won't be putting the membrane back?

 

No, no more membrane!

It has occurred to me today that, as the area has a raised edge and is very sheltered and sunny, whether it would be possible to grow some vegetables in that area. Though it would be nice to keep the honeysuckle too to attract pollinators...

I have a lot of garden planning to do!

 

And now you have an answer to the question "what an earth am I going to do with the five extra tomato plants?" Dig a hole and plop it in, keep watered and enjoy the lush foliage and hopefully a good crop. Basil should do nicely around it too.

Dense, mixed cottage style planting helps to keep pests and diseases at bay and is a lot of fun too.

 

I'm not sure you'll have much room for lots of other plants if the honeysuckle improves. That fence will certainly be a bit of a rain shadow, but improving the soil for it will make it thrive better. They get mildew-y if the conditions are too hot and dry too.

You'd have to pick veg that will suit the site too, if you go ahead with that. Not all veg needs heat and lots of light. Lettuce and chives are a good example, but you could maybe try things like thyme and basil if you can keep them at the edge so that they don't get too wet. Basil isn't perennial though.

 

I have tackled the honeysuckle and this is what it now looks like:



Should I cut the stems even shorter? Tie them in? The trellis is not very sturdy at the moment.

 

I think you need proper supports put in before anything else. Sturdy vine eyes on the posts with horizontal wires, from quite low down, so that any new growth can be tied in, especially horizontally to cover the fence. The trellis is pointless, so just take that out.
Is there any new growth showing at all?
A good mulch to keep moisture in will help too, especially as it's a sunny site which isn't the ideal for honeysuckle. I'd leave any other plant ideas until next year and let that recover properly.

 

Ah ok. Fixing wires - something else new for me to learn! Can they just be screwed straight into the posts or do I need to drill and add plugs?

I actually cut the honeysuckle back a few weeks ago and it’s now showing the tiniest signs of rebudding - it’s been so mild here. Just hope it doesn’t grow too much in case we get frosts. I already pulled back the weed membrane and added some compost, but I need to get more to mulch it properly.

 

Wooden posts you can screw into directly. Concrete posts you need to drill and use plugs.

 

Yes - use heavier ones and decent wire. It looks like you have wooden posts, so that's easier than the concrete ones, whch would need a hammer drill for the holes too.
You can buy tensioners for wire as well, but I've never used them. This sort of thing -
https://www.screwfix.com/p/essentials-steel-hook-eye-turnbuckle-10mm/392fe

If you space the wires at no more than a foot apart, that helps to take the eventual weight too. Fences aren't so good for honeysuckle as it's a messier plant, and is better for covering sheds etc, or for scrambling through other trees and shrubs, but if you train as much of the growth as possible, sideways, that helps.
I wouldn't worry about any new growth being frosted. It'll just grow away again when conditions suit. It just shows it's still perfectly healthy