Training a honeysuckle

[Brian Hallett]

I have a youngish honeysuckle growing up a 6 foot trellis attached to a 6
foot high fence. It is starting to sprawl. What is the best way to train it?
I had thought of fixing the sideshoots with staples. Is this suitable , as I
don't want to stretch wires along the fence which would make painting the
fence difficult. Thank you.

[yoko]

In article <8o6n7h$mof$3...@supernews.com>,

Well, you know what they say? Reward the good behaviour and ignore the
bad!
Seriously, I wouldn't use staples...they won't allow the stems to fatten
and mature. Also, when the honeysuckle has taken hold it will be
impossible to paint the fence anyway. I spend a few minutes once a
fortnight tucking the new shoots between the trellis, just thread it
through and tidy it up, as long as the trellis and fence are sturdy it
will sort itself out and grow upwards. It will wind itself around things
with a bit of encouragement.
Good Luck.
--
yoko

Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Before you buy.

[cbw]

In article <8o6n7h$mof$3...@supernews.com>, Brian Hallett

<pbha...@LineOne.net> writes

>I have a youngish honeysuckle growing up a 6 foot trellis attached to a 6
>foot high fence. It is starting to sprawl. What is the best way to train it?
>I had thought of fixing the sideshoots with staples. Is this suitable , as I
>don't want to stretch wires along the fence which would make painting the
>fence difficult. Thank you.
>
>

don't worry - once the honeysuckle gets going you won't be able to see
the fence, let alone paint it.
--
cbw

[Nick Maclaren]

In article <39de8863...@news.demon.co.uk>,
Sacha <sa...@garden.demon.co.uk> wrote:

>On Fri, 25 Aug 2000 13:32:20 -0000, "Brian Hallett"
><pbha...@LineOne.net> wrote:
>
>>I have a youngish honeysuckle growing up a 6 foot trellis attached to a 6
>>foot high fence. It is starting to sprawl. What is the best way to train it?
>>I had thought of fixing the sideshoots with staples. Is this suitable , as I
>>don't want to stretch wires along the fence which would make painting the
>>fence difficult. Thank you.
>>
>>

>If you *must* paint the fence, then you need to put the trellis on to
>some sort of appliance that will twist off or unscrew, allowing you to
>*gently* tip it forward, plant and all, for painting. I've done this
>on a house wall which had to be painted and maintained (cob wall) Of
>course, there's no guarantee you won't break several stems of the
>honeysuckle. Staples on plants are really not a good idea - no room
>for expansion of the stems and the heat they attract could be
>damaging, too.

I have never tried it, but have done something similar by cutting
the wires that I use - the trouble is that a mass of honeysuckle
can weigh a lot!

>Personally, I'd forget the painting and go for the rustic look of
>peeling paint, bark, leaves and flowers. Rather pretty, IMO.

And, despite what is claimed, painting fences does NOT give them
a longer life in practice. Most softwood rots from ground contact
(fastest), where it is nailed with iron, and where endgrain has
rain falling on it (slowest of the three). Paint really only
helps with the last.

Regards,
Nick Maclaren,
University of Cambridge Computing Service,
New Museums Site, Pembroke Street, Cambridge CB2 3QG, England.
Email: nm...@cam.ac.uk
Tel.: +44 1223 334761 Fax: +44 1223 334679

[R&L]

Hi Brian:

Ours is well over 11 feet. I wove it up a diamond-shaped wooden trellis as
it grew. When it cleared the top of the trellis, it wanted to go
everywhere, so I tied gardening twine to bunches of branches, then secured
the twine at the top of the first floor window frame. I actually just need
to buy a longer trellis....but the h-s is happily racing the clematis that
stands sentry on the other side of the window.

Does anyone know; should a h-s be cut in the fall?

Lisa
Brian Hallett wrote in message <8o6n7h$mof$3...@supernews.com>...