Most can be cut back hard in early spring. Use loppers for branches up to 1 1/2 inches across. Cut a stem all the way back to a point where it joins another stem, or shorten the stems by cutting just beyond a leaf node. Once the cape honeysuckle plant is established and growing strongly, soak the area with water once a month. How To Prune Honeysuckle Vines Honeysuckle vines do not require pruning, however can be pruned as needed to keep the vine tidy and/or in bounds. Plant the cape honeysuckle in an area with full sunlight. Many types of honeysuckle are considered invasive weeds. Training Your Cape Honeysuckle Pruning should be done regularly to keep the tree small. Lindl. Patricia Hamilton Reed has written professionally since 1987. Cape honeysuckle is tolerant of salt spray. Leaves become distorted and curled as the sucking insects feed on the plant. Cut the plant back a bit after each bloom cycle. Cape Honeysuckle Pruning Gardening Reference » Gardening in 2005 ... We have about a 40-foot wide area of Cape Honeysuckle that we use as a privacy screen. Trees: DO NOT prune red oaks and live oaks unless damaged. Boasting beautiful orange to reddish flowers, Mexican honeysuckle bush will thrive in gardens located in USDA growing zone 9-11. . A honeysuckle bush blooms on last year's growth, or, as it's called, "old wood." Height – 6 ½ feet (2 meters) Exposure – full sun, part sun Soil – ordinary, well drained. The foliage stays green year-round in the warmer climates, but is semi-deciduous in cooler areas. Read on to learn how and when to prune honeysuckle plants in this article. You can also rejuvenate overgrown honeysuckle bushes this way, but it’s better to rejuvenate them gradually. The Himalayan honeysuckle is a fantastic shrub with abundant blooming. PRUNING HONEYSUCKLE - LONICERA. Other common names Cape honeysuckle West Indian honeysuckle . When a honeysuckle vine is overgrown, the branches become a tangled mess, making it impossible to prune selectively. Cape Honeysuckle (Tecomaria capensis) – March or April. The size of the main trunk will determine how hard back they should be cut. Do not over-prune! You prune Cape honeysuckle to make it what you want. Repeat the pruning regularly to keep the plant from growing too tall. Generally speaking they are fine without being subject to the secateurs. Honeysuckle pruning begins with the removal of the three D’s: dead, damaged and diseased stems. Cape Honeysuckle is one of the most versatile plants for any landscape. No need to apply pruning paint to other trees; Avoid topping crape myrtles: simply remove sprouts or entire limbs at the trunk. Pruning or hard cutting back of growth helps restrict the spread of climbing honeysuckle plants but you can also leave them to scale a tree or ramble over a high wall.. What pruning methods are best for training it to grow as a:? You should also thin out the top of the plant to let sunlight and air inside. In some areas, it has gotten to be maybe 12-15 feet … How & When to Prune Cape Honeysuckle Plant | eHow – To prune cape honeysuckle as a vining plant, place a trellis near the plant. © Copyright 2020 Hearst Communications, Inc. Plant "Apricot," a smaller, more compact cultivar, to minimize trimming. Honeysuckle rarely needs one pruning. Cut right next to a bud to encourage growth along that branch and create a more rounded appearance. Dear Jacqueline… A hello from India… I am truly amazed by this site and have no words to express myself. Allow the tree to grow normally if you want flowers to appear. Next, correct stems that are growing in the wrong direction and those that rub against each other. Use sharp pruning shears to cut away parts of the vine that are the most leggy and lacking the most foliage. Prune cape honeysuckle plants that serve as ground cover. Aphids excrete honeydew which then leads to sooty mould. In an ideal world, there would be no need to prune your Acer. Wait until fall or winter when the vine is dormant for major pruning jobs. You should also prune away branches that were damaged by frost at the start of spring. Cut back any stems that touch the ground so they don't root and spread. Follow any long stems that extend outside the basic mound profile of the plant during the growing season back to a side branch or bud up to 1 foot inside the plant. Cut off any branches that are growing up, as opposed to spreading out. ? Severe pruning should be done in the winter while the plant is dormant. Spray immediately with clear varnish. To make a 6- to 8-foot-tall shrub or hedge, shorten the … Though the plant is not widely invasive, it has escaped cultivation in subtropical and tropical climates. Prune honeysuckle bushes in the spring, as soon as the flowers drop off. If you're going for a hedge, trimming may be required on a regular basis since this grows fast. When cutting branches, use sharp pruning shears to cut at a 45-degree angle about 1/4 inch in front of a leaf bud. Honeysuckles include both vines and shrubs. Cape honeysuckle can send out long stems that need to be controlled to maintain the plant as a shrub. There are two main types of honeysuckle (lonicera) - which require different pruning techniques. Honeysuckle is an attractive vine that grows quickly to cover supports. Mexican Honeysuckle in Gardens. Water on a regular basis but don't keep it overly wet. Once you have resolved these problems, shape the plant by removing stray stems that wander away from the support. Grumpy's Totally Correct Answer: 'Alabama Crimson' is a beautiful form of our well-behaved, native trumpet honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens) -- not to be confused with that horrible weed imported from Asia, Japanese honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica). USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service: Tecoma Capensis (Thunb.) Prune in late winter to early spring to maintain your cape honeysuckle's shape and still see plenty of coral blooms. The vine grows back quickly but doesn’t bloom the following spring. A scrambling shrub that can be trimmed as a medium to large bushes or hedges, are frequently used as vines to cover posts or fences, and also make very nice patio trees in gardens or Plants that are in poor health are more prone to infestation. Hilary Lambert, Warlingham, Surrey C. armandii should be pruned straight after flowering – say late May, clearing dead wood as you go. Honeysuckles include both vines and shrubs, Honeysuckle Vine Care: How To Grow A Honeysuckle Vine In The Garden, Types Of Honeysuckle Plants: How To Tell Honeysuckle Shrubs From Vines, Japanese Honeysuckle Weed: How To Control Honeysuckle In Gardens, Rose Topiary Tree: How To Prune A Rose Topiary, Spindly Knockout Roses: Pruning Knockout Roses That Have Gone Leggy, Rose Infused Honey - How To Make Rose Honey, Tips For Growing A Weeping Forsythia Shrub, Knobby Deformed Potatoes: Why Potato Tubers Are Deformed, Yucca Plant Blooms: How To Care For Yucca After Blooming, Best Time To Prune Willows: How To Prune A Willow Tree, Unrequited Love: When Roses Don’t Love You Back, Garden Fails: Learning From My Rose Garden Mistakes, Growing Roses That Can Handle Some Setbacks, Memorable Moments: Growing Potted Roses In The City Of Roses. Keep the soil around the plant moist at all times to help the vine regenerate. Cape honeysuckle can die back when temperatures drop below 28 degrees Fahrenheit but will re-sprout in spring. tree; fountain-shaped shrub; low-growing shrub . To prune honeysuckle bushes, wait until after the blooming period, and start by trimming any dead, damaged, or diseases branches. Find more gardening information on Gardening Know How: Keep up to date with all that's happening in and around the garden. She has a Bachelor of Arts in journalism from Michigan State University, is an avid gardener and volunteers at her local botanical garden. Pruning depends on the shape you've chosen. Check with your local cooperative extension agent to find out the status of honeysuckle in your area before planting. One of the most common pests for Honeysuckle vines are aphids. Never over-fertilize your vine! All old climbing honeysuckles can be given a new lease of life by this method of honeysuckle pruning. Space your cuts evenly throughout the plant to both open up its interior to light and air and control its height. 'Alabama Crimson,' along with a similar-looking hybrid, 'Dropmore Scarlet,' bloom not just in spring, but also repeatedly during the summer. Cape honeysuckle can withstand a hard pruning. My Cape Honeysuckle is flourishing but growing wider. This plant works well as a screen, barrier, or hedge and can be trained to cascade over rocks or walls. Distinctive fragrance and a profusion of flowers add to the appeal. . Plants that are not well established should only be pruned lightly. Whether you want to prune during the dormant season or hold off until after the flowering, touch up your vine with frequent trims during the summer and early autumn, to control the shape and size of your plant. The best way to correct a severely overgrown honeysuckle is to cut the plant back to about a foot (30 cm.) You don’t want the material to cut into the plant as it grows. To train it as a ground cover (2 to 3 feet high), remove upward-growing branches and let low-growing ones run and take root. Though not related to other “honeysuckle” plants, it is quite easy to see how the visual similarities among Mexican honeysuckle might explain its namesake. Sign up for our newsletter. (As much detail as possible will be appreciated. Hi just a follow up. Reshape the plant if needed. Nimmy Says: July 15th, 2011 at 11:02 pm. Honeysuckle is an attractive vine that grows quickly to cover supports. It is against the back of our hill, and is gorgeous. Good air circulation is essential to prevent diseases like powdery mildew. If you look closely at the list above, you can see that in most cases these shrubs are either pruned once they have finished flowering OR just after the danger of frost is over in the spring. Cape Honeysuckle (Tecomaria capensis). Distinctive fragrance and a profusion of flowers add to the appeal. Training – To train a honeysuckle vine to grow up a pergola, wall or trellis, gently tie the plant to the support with a plastic tie tape or another stretchy material that will allow for growth. The evergreen plant grows as a vine up to 25 feet long, but is often trained as a shrub 6 to 10 feet tall. The cape honeysuckle (Tecoma capensis or Tecomaria capensis) brightens your landscape with vivid coral orange blooms from mid-autumn through early winter in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 9 to 11. New growth will begin to appear right after pruning through early spring, therefore it's important not to prune this bush in the winter or early spring, which cuts away the growth necessary for it to bloom. Family Bignoniaceae . Cut the plant back to within 6 inches of ground height in early spring when it has outgrown its space, is no longer blooming well or has experienced significant winter damage. It originated in South Africa, grows fast and has vine-like qualities. Training and Pruning Honeysuckle. University of California Extension: Under the Solano Sun - Light Up the Fall, Flowering Vines: Beautiful Climbers, Issue 158; Karan Davis Cutler, Plant Amnesty: Pruning Guide - Arizona Low Desert. Grooming and Maintenance Since cape trumpet flower shrub grows at a fast rate and often scramble up the nearby plants, walls, fences or other structures, it can get an untidy appearance and needs to be trimmed. For a vine, train it up a trellis. Cape honeysuckle thrives in USDA hardiness zones 9 through 11. Hand pruners can handle stems up to 1/2 inch in diameter. Sign up to get all the latest gardening tips! Clip off any minor frost damage with hand pruners, removing foliage that is limp and dark brown or discolored around the edges back to where it connects to the branch. Himalayan honeysuckle facts. Reed was editor of the "Grand Ledge Independent" weekly newspaper and a Capitol Hill reporter for the national newsletter "Corporate & Foundation Grants Alert."