- Author: Karen Metz
About ten or fifteen years ago I was looking for a plant that would climb up the post that supported a cross bar that held my two bird feeders. I had a Happy Wanderer growing in another area, but was hoping for something that would be evergreen for this particular spot. I decided on Lonicera japonica 'Halliana', Hall's honeysuckle.
I had fond memories of this plant from childhood. The neighbors had one and their kids taught me how to pluck a blossom and suck the sweet nectar. I think I must have been four or five. Now when I think about it, I sure hope my neighbor hadn't sprayed his plants with anything. I also love the fragrance.
I knew about it's aggressive tendencies, so I planted it in a five gallon pot at the base of the post. I enjoyed the vine very much. About three or four years later the plant suddenly began to grow amazingly well. I patted myself on the back and thought I must really be doing something right! It was only later when I was crawling around underneath the plant to put boards to try and deter cats from hiding under the foliage to surprise the birds, that I discovered the real reason. The plant had burst through the pot and into the ground.
Over the years it has gotten bigger and bigger. We kept having to trim it back to keep it away from the dwarf crab apple tree next to it and trim the vines away from the feeders. I didn't do a severe pruning because I liked it being green year round and I wasn't sure when the optimal time was. It was getting to the point we were having to trim it weekly to keep the feeders open.
Also when I would look deep inside the plant it looked like there was a woody, dead? inner scaffolding supporting only a thin outer shell of green. Not good. I had had it. I whacked it down to about a foot from the ground. On the one hand I am thinking, it's the heat of summer in the middle of the drought, what am I doing? But on the other hand I thought, it's honeysuckle. Now just after I did it we had a string of over 100 degree days. It did give me pause, but again I reassured myself, it's honeysuckle.
Sure enough within two weeks I could see leaf buds appearing and swelling. That's when the photo was taken. Now it's been two more weeks and little vines are showing up. This time around I know to be more vigilant and ruthless about cutting it back regularly to keep the plant from becoming so woody. Now I know I can safely cut it to the ground if I need to, although the experts suggest early spring as a better time to do that procedure.