Honeysuckle Serotina

Tizzie44

Good evening,
can anyone please advise me on what’s going wrong with my honeysuckle? It is now 4 years old and this is the first year it has flowered. Not loads of flowers but I was pleased to see some. However, it is almost bare of leaves so looks pretty scruffy. It is growing with a climbing rose and up to the last 4/6 weeks looked very healthy. Now turned into a bit of an eyesore albeit with a dozen or so flowers!
any advice gratefully received.

Borderline

It's difficult to say without seeing how it is growing. In too much sun, they suffer too, so best to grow them in semi shade with the soil moist and preferably not baked in sun.

It's been pretty hot and dry until recently, and that may have affected the shrub. If you have a lot of bare stems without leaves, maybe it is a good idea to cut back to create new branches. 

Tizzie44

Should it be cut back soon or in the spring? And by how much? Always rather nervous about cutting plants back in case I kill them! Consequently my garden sometimes resembles a miniature jungle! 

Borderline

Pruning back all depends on whether you want more branches, and also removing old or dead looking branches. Once the flowering has finished, you can start the pruning back. Don't worry about how far back.

Start firstly with the dead and bare stemmed bits. Just cut them out. Then see if it needs some thinning out. That is removing some outer layers or wayward growth that can thicken over time. Make sure the base is well mulched, and in some shade. That will keep your plants happy too.

Tizzie44

Thank you for your advice, I will do what you suggest and hopefully will have more success next year.