A full description of the characteristics of this plant combines many contradictions. In this family there are both high and low shrubs. Wood and lianovidny type. With tasty fruits or decorative processes. More than 200 species of this plant are known.
Decorative honeysuckle: types and varieties
Decorative honeysuckle often includes species with a curly shape of the bush. They bloom profusely at the turn of spring-summer, so these species are successfully used in gardening.
Curly Honeysuckle
There are two main types that are most popular here: brown honeysuckle and honeysuckle. The first one dissolves its branches to 6 meters, but it can only climb up to 2.5 meters. Kaprifol braids everything in its path. Decorative capricole suitable for upgrading a romantic corner, for example, gazebos. She creates a beautiful hedge.
Important! Kaprifol is a heat-loving plant, and on the northern side it may not survive.The leaves of the honeysuckle form peculiar saucers in which pink-orange flowers appear, and after that - red fruits. Brown honeysuckle is more thermophilic and winters only under cover. Once, at least twice a year, it blooms orange. In regions where there are cold winters, Brown's honeysuckle does not bear fruit. The brightest colors are grades "Fuchsioides" and "Dropmore Scarlet".
Shrub Honeysuckle
The most popular variety of bush species is Tatar honeysuckle. This plant is perfectly adapted to the harsh winters. Reaches a shrub in height up to 2.5 m, and begins to bloom from the age of three. By the end of spring, honeysuckle becomes pink, which later becomes red berries. The tone of flowers varies in varieties.
Important! If the soil in your garden is not fertile enough, it is recommended to plant several honeysuckle bushes of the Zabelli variety in a sunny place. It is unpretentious to the natural conditions, grows up to one and a half meters, and beautiful flowers of crimson shade grow on it.To dilute the garden palette, plant alpine honeysuckle. This is a kind of honeysuckle, reaching a height of about a meter and giving juicy-red fruits. Also, yellow gives honeysuckle blue. In the spring, it is full of white-green and yellow flowers, which are replaced by blue fruits by the middle of summer.
Planting honeysuckle
Planted honeysuckle better in the autumn. To plants pollinated as efficiently as possible, it is better to acquire several bushes at once. If the honeysuckle is planted as a hedge, then you need to keep a distance of no more than half a meter. In the case of separately growing bushes, it should be within half a meter.
Important! Consider in advance the place of landing of honeysuckle, as the plant lives about 35 years.
Where to plant
So that your garden honeysuckle is always pleasing to the eye, and its landing and further care for it did not bring trouble, The following criteria should be taken into account:
- The soil should not have an acidic environment. For the normalization of such is used lime, which is introduced into the soil in certain proportions.
- Soil moisture should be average. The main thing that the rhizome was not collecting water.
- Honeysuckle blooms better in illuminated areas, although it can grow in the shade.
- Honeysuckle - quite a gentle plant. To prevent the wind from damaging the leaves, flowers and fruits of the honeysuckle, do not plant it in elevated areas.
How to choose seedlings
Try as much as possible to clarify with the sellers all the details about the plant being acquired: what sort, what the fruits taste like, the time of its fruiting, the yield from one bush and the other.
Important! Sometimes even experienced professionals are mistaken in the varieties of seedlings. Therefore, it is recommended to purchase seedlings only in nurseries or from private gardeners who independently grow honeysuckle and sell their goods.Tips when choosing saplings of this plant:
- Plant bushes only two or three years old. In this case, for a couple of years you will have a good harvest.
- The branches of the plant must be flexible, not dry, without damage. Be sure to check each bush very carefully.
- If you notice a slight peeling of the bark of the seedlings, do not let this embarrass you. This is a peculiar feature of culture.
- Pay attention to the roots. They should be heaps. A plus will be the presence of buds on the branches.
- It is better to buy several different varieties of honeysuckle, at least three. Soon you can multiply it yourself.
Did you know? Among the hundreds of known species of honeysuckle, only a few of them are edible. The most famous of all inedible varieties is the wolfberry.
How to plant honeysuckle
- Dig holes in 40 cm³ at a distance of one and a half meters from each other, if the varieties landed are undersized, and 2.5 m for tall varieties.
- In each hole you need to lay two buckets of compost, 50 g of superphosphate and 1 kg of ash. If the soil is too rich in sand, then add one more bucket and some potash fertilizer to the amount of compost.
- Pour water into the wells. Stir the contents until the moisture is evenly distributed. In the center of the hole, make a small mound and place a seedling on it. Roots should be evenly distributed over the mound. Remove broken and dry roots.
- Put a little compost into the hole and pour it with water. The earth should stick around the roots well. Fill the well completely and water well. Since the roots of honeysuckle grow compactly, then water it only under the root.
- After the landing of honeysuckle need to immediately mulch the earth around it.
- When planting honeysuckle seedlings, alternate between different varieties. This will be the best pollination during the flowering period, which will give the best yield. There are male and female bushes, the pollination of which occurs cross.
- Honeysuckle in pruning after planting does not need. This can greatly delay the entry of the bushes in the fruiting stage.
- Take care of the bushes for three years. And then you can enjoy the delicious fruits.
Did you know? Honeysuckle fruits have a beneficial effect on the cardiovascular system, are a good choleretic, antiseptic and diuretic. Berries are favorable for the production of gastric juice and improve digestion.
Honeysuckle care
Honeysuckle needed: regular watering, weeding, loosening the soil, mulching, timely application of fertilizers, correct pruning and protection from all sorts of pests and diseases.
Watering and feeding
Water honeysuckle should be moderate and in dry weather. At the turn of spring and summer, watering must be increased to avoid the bitterness of further harvest. If the weather is not very hot, with regular small rains, then watering should be carried out up to 4 times per season. Under each bush you need to pour at least 10 liters of water.
2 years after the landing of the honeysuckle curly, special care is not required. During this period, the bushes should not be fed. Fertilizers need to be made in the third year. Prefer organic matter. At the end of autumn, distribute 5 kg of compost, 100 g of ash and 40 g of double superphosphate to each square meter. Before opening the kidneys in the spring periods, add ammonium nitrate in the ratio of 15 g per square meter. It is possible to pour 10 liters of water under each bush with a tablespoon of dissolved urea.
For the third time in a season, the honeysuckle is fed after fruiting. In early July, you need to fertilize the earth with a solution of nitroammophos in proportions of 30 g per bucket of water. You can also dilute 2.5 kg of slurry in 10 liters of water.
Soil loosening
When the soil is sufficiently wetted, it is necessary to loosen it carefully, simultaneously removing weeds. Loosening conduct superficial, since the roots of honeysuckle are not very deep. If there is a mulch on the plot, go through the procedure through it, but in this case, much less frequently.
Mulching
Honeysuckle is very grateful for mulching, as it does not allow weeds to grow and prevents overheating of the upper soil layers, followed by drying. Mulch can be peat, sawdust, newspapers or humus.
Weeding
Weeding around the bushes is necessary after each watering. It is necessary to remove all weeds that have appeared. In the autumn period, do not remove fallen leaves around the root system. It is an additional source of power and insulation material.
Pruning
This stage in the cultivation of the plant plays an important role and has its own characteristics, the procedure depends on the variety. Honeysuckle hedging requires special and more regular pruning. Pruning improves the aesthetic appearance of decorative varieties, heals, gives strength for the subsequent growth of beautiful greenery. In this case, you need to prune the bushes every autumn. In the summer, you just need to remove the branches that interfere with the plants.
The first pruning is carried out exclusively to the required size. All subsequent - for the beauty and maintain the desired shape. In the case of edible varieties, pruning is necessary for a better harvest. But these varieties are better not pruned to seven years. Pruning in this case should be done with great care, as the growth of the shrub is very slow.
Did you know? If there is a children's corner in your garden, you can decorate it with Far Eastern honeysuckle. It bears fruits with tasty and healthy berries that children will like.
Breeding
Honeysuckle can multiply by seed, by dividing the bushes, cuttings and layering. Each method has its own advantages and disadvantages.
Honeysuckle seed
Spread some ripe berries on soft paper and spread them a centimeter apart. After drying them, put a year on the reverse side, fold the paper and store it at room temperature. Seeds can be stored for 2 years.
If you want to germinate seeds in the coming year, then the planting material obtained in June, you need to put in a wet soil, closed up to 1 mm. Place the sifted seed container in a greenhouse or under glass. Keep track of the moisture of the topsoil. After 20 days should begin to look seedlings. At the end of the autumn you need to take out the container to the garden. If a winter-hardy variety is sown in it, then the seedlings under the snow will winter well.
If planting honeysuckle seeds occurs in the middle or late fall, the stage of the greenhouse germination should be skipped and the box under the snow. In the spring, they should start growing. To accelerate the germination of seeds, in the spring they should be made in the greenhouse. When they grow to 3 cm and 4-6 leaves, dive seedlings. The procedure should be carried out according to the 5x5 scheme on the garden garden bed.
Water the saplings, remove the weeds from the garden bed, loosen the soil. The next year, transplant seedlings according to the scheme 20x20. After 4 years, the seedlings will have the first fruits. Determine the taste of the berries of each of them. Those who like the most, and should be transplanted to permanent residence. After 8 years, the level of their fruiting will increase significantly. Other seedlings can be put on the green fence.
Reproduction by cuttings
Up to 200 cuttings can be obtained from one healthy mature shrub. For reproduction of honeysuckle cuttings, hardened cuttings of the plant must be prepared in early spring, until the buds begin to bloom. The length of the cutting must be at least 15 cm. You can plant them directly on the garden when the ground has already thawed out after the winter frosts. Deepen the cuttings in the ground to 10 cm. The main thing is that the upper buds remain above the surface. From above, the stalk should be covered with a greenhouse film so that the roots are formed correctly. The cuttings will take root in a month.
Reproduction by layering
It is possible to propagate by layering when the honeysuckle has grown into an adult bush. In June, you need to loosen the soil around the bushes and slightly lift a mound. At the bottom of the bush, select some of the sturdiest shoots of the same age. Bend them to the ground and attach with wire in several places. Then sprinkle with a layer of soil in 5 cm and water regularly. With the onset of the next spring, with the help of a secateur, separate these layers from the mother plant and transplant them to their permanent place. After 2 years, each layer will become a full-fledged honeysuckle.
Dividing bush
In late spring or early autumn, until the buds are swollen, the six-year-old honeysuckle is divided into several equal parts. Next, the sections need to be sanitized and landed in new places. If a shrub selected for division turns out to be highly mature, the plant will not survive.
We harbor honeysuckle for the winter
Many varieties of honeysuckle tolerate even severe frosts down to -50 ° C. But here, a capricole, for example, does not possess such endurance, therefore preparation for winter is necessary. All creepers need to bend down to the ground, removing from the supports. Thus, they better cover the snow crust. You can put them on a peat pillow and cover with spruce leaves.
Rodents are rarely interested in honeysuckle, therefore, not so intensively damage its bark. But birds can damage fruit buds. To avoid this, you can cover the bushes with synthetic bags or fine mesh.
Did you know? According to some researchers, honeysuckle emits a fragrance that relieves stress and nervousness.
