Help with my honeysuckle

foxwales

I bought a nice health small british honeysuckle plant just as the summer (what summer!) was starting, I have planted it in a fairly sheltered position but ensuring it gets plenty of light, have given it bonemeal and water and plant food, yet it seems to be looking rather sickly now.

The leaves have gone kind of crispy, the base stalk of the plant has gone all brown and hard, yet at the top of the plant there are new shoots forming and growing. It is climbing and it has grown since I have planted it, but it doesn't look like it's doing so well, it has very few leaves, only around the tops.

Any tips?

Its well fed, watered in the cool evenings, supported against a wall and with poles to help it climb, what more can i do?

Thanks

valk_scot

How much water and plant food? Sometimes you can kill them with kindness, you know. Small plants only need small amounts of water (but very regularly) while they establish, then after that they've usually got good enough root systems to seek out their own water. Especially in our climate!

Plasticman

Mine is exactly the same and has been for a while. No idea why......

alanobrien

There are many types of honey suckle. I planted one no more than two months ago behind some bamboo (in semi light ) to act as an evergreen climber / screen for a trellis it has doubled its size in that time. You do need to make sure you get the right one for the right situation then they will romp away.

MRSTITTLEMOUSE

I've two honeysuckles and the larger leaved one is like this every autumn.
It flowers gets berries and then the leaves start to go brown and fall.
I just give it a trim and it comes back even more lovely in the spring.
I always found honeysuckles to be greedy and respond well to a good weekly feed and I never let them dry out or they seem to suffer badly.

foxwales

I can't remember the exact type of honeysuckle, but it said its the british variety, I have two other honeysuckle plants beginning with an L? and they are doing great.

I live in Wales so have not really been watering it recently due to all the rain we have been having, I give it a feed about every fortnight if that and it had some bonemeal when I originally planted it.

Just a bit puzzled really because it is having the most care out of all my plants, maybe its just being stubborn.

lisa2905

How spooky I was just going to start a post on my honeysuckle and saw this one !! Anyway last year my honeysuckle was lovely this year its very sad with a few green leaves right on the ends I've had no flowers this year and the stems are brown. Should I cut it right back like I do my clematis in Feb, leave it and hope it does better next year, or just trim it just a bit. Any advice greatly appreciated.

foxwales

lisa2905 wrote: »

How spooky I was just going to start a post on my honeysuckle and saw this one !! Anyway last year my honeysuckle was lovely this year its very sad with a few green leaves right on the ends I've had no flowers this year and the stems are brown. Should I cut it right back like I do my clematis in Feb, leave it and hope it does better next year, or just trim it just a bit. Any advice greatly appreciated.

Thats strange indeed, maybe its got something to do with all the wet weather we have been having? or a new strain of something??

Who knows!

MRSTITTLEMOUSE

lisa2905 wrote: »

How spooky I was just going to start a post on my honeysuckle and saw this one !! Anyway last year my honeysuckle was lovely this year its very sad with a few green leaves right on the ends I've had no flowers this year and the stems are brown. Should I cut it right back like I do my clematis in Feb, leave it and hope it does better next year, or just trim it just a bit. Any advice greatly appreciated.

I chop mine back every year and it seems to make it grow back much lusher.
My honeysuckle has been fantastic this year but is starting to look a bit tired now as it always does around now.
As for care well,my daughter lives next to a house that's been empty for over two years so no one ever touches the garden.There is the most magnificent,fragrant honeysuckle you could ever wish to find in there.
It's been given no food or water or cut back, in fact never been touched for over two years.
Yet it continues to flourish.
Like everything else in gardening it's a mystery to me. :rolleyes:

lisa2905

Thankyou Mrstittlemouse the chop it is then !!!! it just looks an untidy mess at the moment !!! So if I chop it right back at least it will be a smaller mess !!!