Pruning a young honeysuckle bush

Honeysuckle is a very early crop, its bush blooms in early May. Sap flow in the branches of honeysuckle stops with the first drop in temperature, usually in late summer or September. Due to this property, honeysuckle is highly cold-resistant, therefore it is grown throughout Russia. The honeysuckle bush begins to bear fruit only in the fourth spring after planting. In addition, in the first year after planting in the ground, it builds up a fibrous root system, even if you planted a two-year-old seedling. Therefore, in the fall, it is better not to plant honeysuckle and prepare only two-year-old branches for planting.

The honeysuckle bush can bear fruit for 150 years.

There are 5 main stages of the life cycle of this culture: the embryonic (preparatory) stage, fruiting is not at full strength, peak fruiting and its decline, the death of old bush branches. It should be noted that the third and fourth stages can replace each other many times, depending on from caring for honeysuckle and its varieties. In some varieties of honeysuckle, the yield decline period lasts only two seasons, then it is replaced by peak fruiting. This can continue for up to 70 years. But without proper care for honeysuckle and without pruning shrubs, high yields will not have to wait. See honeysuckle honeysuckle photo!

Time to prune a young bush

A honeysuckle bush is considered young if its fruiting is not yet abundant. Honeysuckle passes from the preparatory stage to the period of incomplete fruiting in the third or fourth year after planting. Until this time, the honeysuckle bush is not pruned, as there is a risk of damaging young deciduous buds. If you cut off shoots in the first 4 years, the bush will no longer form new ones, so the branches will need to be cut at the root. Then the honeysuckle will start the preparatory phase anew and form new basal shoots with vegetative buds.

Prune a 4-year-old honeysuckle in early autumn, when the bush has already dropped its leaves. All root shoots inclined to the ground or growing horizontally are removed. Weak thin branches, basal shoots and branches growing vertically upward are also removed.

In the first year of pruning, only 4-6 skeletal branches should be left.

In this state, honeysuckle winters well. To retain moisture in the soil, the bushes must be mulched for the winter. Gradually, the number of shoots can be increased to 14.

In different varieties of honeysuckle, the stage of incomplete fruiting can last up to 20 years.