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Honeysuckle - Grow It Thick And Bushy on Wires Only??

GorgurugaGorguruga Posts: 57
in Plants

Could I grow honeysuckle being supported by wires only?

Quick diagram, hopefully this will help explain it better:

image

Diagram explanation: Honeysuckle (or another vine) growing along 3 or 4 wires attached from a fence going diagonally across to the side of a shed about 3 meters away from where the plant would be placed into the ground. Shed is about 1 ft away from the fence. Want it to be about 60 cm worth of bushiness going across for the 3 metres! 

:This is the vine I'm thinking about but any suggestions would be appreciated. The idea is for privacy screening but also to have a beautiful vine (or number of different vines) in the garden.

Lornicera Haliana

Would be buying from here: 

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00F96ULRM

 

Video of Vine!

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dIO3Fj-dRlI

Any suggestions or comments appreciated. image

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Posts

  • pansyfacepansyface Posts: 22,714

    Lonicera halliana would certainly fill that space. It could be grown on wires. But you would have to spend a fair amount of time keeping it tidy. It does have beautifully perfumed flowers but isn't what I would call beautiful. It is susceptible to mildew. It becomes very straggly. It drops its leaves.

    It does make a fairly impregnable screen however I don't think it is the best plant that you could choose.

    Where do you live? What sort of soil?

    Edit. Have just seen your previous post which says the wires would stand alone. In which case no. Honeysuckle is too top heavy to be grown in such a awy.

    Apophthegm -  a big word for a small thought.
    If you live in Derbyshire, as I do.
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 54,353

    I would have thought it would drag wires down without something more solid to attach it to. I'd be inclined to put more of a solid structure there and then put wires or trellis on to that. It's quite a big distance to have wire only.

    I had a similar issue here as the neighbour's garage forms part of my boundary -about 6 feet or so. I added to the existing fence (which is also boundary) so that there was no issue with anything attaching itself to her property, and also for aesthetic reasons. 

    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • GorgurugaGorguruga Posts: 57

    Pansyface: I live in London and the soil in that part of the garden is pretty poor, although weeds grow on it but a lot of the grass has now gone so it's very patchy. That's also something I want to fix and return it to lush green grass.

    Could I perhaps grow a long. healthy vine in a large pot full of compost? Or alternatively if I dig up that part of the garden and add a whole bag of compost into the ground then plant the vine into that? The wires would stand alone, but I could add some sort of trellis or bamboo to support them once the vine has gained weight?

  • GorgurugaGorguruga Posts: 57

    Fairygirl: I'll definitely look into putting a trellis behind it once the vine is heavy enough, but would it be ok to start the growing process on it with just the wires alone, then when it's grown enough I could modify the structure with the additional support? 

    I was thinking about adding to the fence somehow too, even looked into how to fix wooden posts into the ground with concrete. Was hoping there'd be an easier solution with the wires though.

     

     

  • GorgurugaGorguruga Posts: 57

    By the way, I forgot to mention that I had thought about adding 3 or 4 separate wires anchored to the fence on one side and the shed on the other. So, the weight of the vine would be distributed across all of the wires as I'd wrap it around them as it grows. Not sure if that might be a strong enough support ? 

  • annmarie 2annmarie 2 Posts: 155
    I cant see why not gorgurga, honeysuckle are quite a monster so to speak spread everywhere... your best to get a trellis either way ground or large pot and guide it around they tend to go a little wild but easy to train put some chicken compost in the base or ground first it will feed it for three months good luck you cant go wrong with this plant the smell divine ps if your using a pot put drainage in before hand
  • GorgurugaGorguruga Posts: 57

    Thanks Ann Marie, really useful tips, I'm undecided whether I should plant into the ground or if it would still grow long and bushy enough in a large pot? Pot would be the best option for me because I think it might be easier to prune if it's potted next to my shed and then growing along the wires towards the fence instead (back to the area where I'd originally though I might plant it. I'm not sure, still trying to decide.

    My honeysuckle plant arrived today, here it is: image

    image

     

    image

     p.s. Lawn will be cut in about 4 hours time! 

  • annmarie 2annmarie 2 Posts: 155
    you sound just like me when I get any new plants , they get moved around in their pots til I decide ... its looks a healthy plant should be spreading everywhere soon I love honeysuckle their smell is out of this world early in the morning and last thing at night the garden smell of them
  • GorgurugaGorguruga Posts: 57

    I'm glad it looks healthy, I'm a bit of a beginner when it comes to gardening so can't tell these things off the bat.. Can't wait for it to grow and hopefully look nice, smell nice and provide me with that privacy screen too. I'm actually thinking of combining it with an ivy vine on the same wires, if that hopefully doesn't cause any issue. 

    Oh that reminds me also - I wanted to plant a vine to climb up my apple tree - either honeysuckle or ivy (or both) but I'm not sure if that might be dangerous to the tree! I guess I could keep it in pots around the tree so that it doesn't interfere with the root system of the tree and compete for nutrients. *thinking out loud* image  

     

  • annmarie 2annmarie 2 Posts: 155
    it all depends on the tree , but I have seen some that are quite successful, not tried it myself though , but if you want a plant that goes and climbs everywhere id say a Virginia creeper ive got one growing along my fence ive had it for a few years and you cant see the fence in the summer for the leaves in fact I stuck a twig in the ground about 3 years ago and that took off in the back garden ive cut it down pulled it out and it stil growing so ive left it this year .... it growing lovely along the canopy ; if your looking for large pots and tubs go onto ebay they got some really nice ones great price and if your placing another vine make sure it not too near to the other if its in the ground I always put a few stones or broken up old bricks ( crushed and small) even in the ground it helps the roots not to spread to far a handful will do sounds like you got it all planned out , don't water any of your plant in full sun when it the hottest their leaves burn happy gardening
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