Pruning honeysuckle

Regular pruning of honeysuckle begins at 6-8 years of age. And before this age, they only cut out branches damaged during tillage at the base of the bush and small lower shoots inclined to the ground.

In the Izyuminka variety, the lower branches lie on the soil, the shoots are long and curved, and the bush falls apart. Care
It is difficult to maintain such a bush, so the fallen branches are cut out at the base to give the bush a more upright shape.

Thickened bush before pruning

While the bushes are actively growing (up to 8-10 years), shoots cannot be shortened, as this reduces the yield. Honeysuckle bears fruit on one-year-old wood (on last year's growth). The largest number of fruit buds are formed at the top of the shoot. By pruning annual shoots, we remove, along with the top of the branch, most of the harvest, which can be obtained the following year.

The seedlings are not pruned when planting. Only broken branches are removed. Pruning for reverse growth (to a height of 10-15 cm), which is common in many berry bushes, is unacceptable for honeysuckle, because it delays growth and the onset of fruiting.

This plant has the following feature: the very first shoot grows and develops extremely slowly. Actually, it practically does not grow at all, but after a year or two, young shoots begin to grow from the base, which quickly gain strength.

Honeysuckle is a densely branching shrub. Every year, most of the buds formed on the shoot awaken, which leads to thickening of the crown, deterioration of nutritional conditions and lighting of skeletal branches, which in turn reduces the yield. Sometimes the tops of the branches dry out and die.

We remove the lower shoots.

For 8-10 years after planting, the bushes need anti-aging pruning. The best time is autumn, after leaf fall. It is carried out according to the type of thinning of old branches. In the crown, younger, stronger branches are always noticeable, which were formed from dormant buds on 3-5-year-old wood.

This is what the plant should look like after pruning.

When pruning, the aging top of the skeletal branch is completely removed with sharp pruning shears, transferring it to a younger branch in the middle of the crown. In order not to lose most of the crop, pruning should be gentle.Gradually the crown is made sparse. Nitrogen fertilizing in the spring after thinning causes the awakening of the buds and the formation of powerful growths. They produce more and larger berries.

Scheme for pruning edible honeysuckle

Systematic autumn moderate pruning helps maintain the yield at a high level for a number of years.

How to feed edible honeysuckle

The honeysuckle bush increases its harvest gradually, peaking at the age of 7 to 15 years. Crop growth directly depends on plant nutrition. On soils rich in humus, they grow better and begin to bear fruit earlier.

Honeysuckle takes out a lot of potassium and phosphorus with its harvest and leaves. For young, intensively growing bushes, organic and mineral fertilizers are used. Organic matter (rotted manure, compost) is added once every 2-3 years in the fall, during digging.

Fertilizing with mineral fertilizers (complex) is carried out 3 times during the growing season: at the beginning of April, at the beginning of July, after harvesting, at the end of September.