How to plant honeysuckle in the fall so that it takes root successfully?

Proper planting is one of the keys to successful cultivation of blue honeysuckle or, as it is also called, blue honeysuckle (and scientifically - Lonicera caerulea). This cultivated species of an originally wild plant is successfully grown by summer residents in their gardens.

Why should edible honeysuckle grow on your site? Firstly, like many berries, it also contains a lot of useful substances (and these are ascorbic acid, vitamins P, B1, B2, folic acid, potassium, manganese, iodine, sodium, magnesium, copper, carotene, calcium and phosphorus) . Secondly, it begins to bear fruit in the spring, even earlier than garden strawberries. Well, and thirdly, there is much less hassle with it than with many other crops. In general, if we managed to convince you, feel free to start growing honeysuckle.

The “folk” names for honeysuckle are buzan, guzan and shameless. The latter is probably due to the tendency of the plant bark to peel.

When is it better to plant honeysuckle: autumn or spring?

You can plant honeysuckle in spring and autumn, the main thing is to choose the right seedlings

When planting in spring, it is easier to control the condition of the plant, which allows you to provide it with timely assistance if problems arise. However, it is quite difficult to choose the most favorable moment before the growing season begins. It is advisable to place the seedling in the soil before the buds open, but most often at this time the air temperature is low and the soil is not warmed up.

When planting at the end of the growing season, such problems are eliminated. To obtain high yields, experienced gardeners advise planting in the fall. If agricultural practices are followed, the shrub takes root well, forms a powerful root system and quickly begins to grow in the spring.

Advantages of autumn planting:

• favorable weather conditions for rooting;
• formation of strong plant immunity during wintering;
• wide selection of planting material.

The only drawback is the risk of sudden frosts, which can prevent the bush from rooting.

Autumn or spring planting: what to choose?

In the wild, honeysuckle grows in Siberia and the Far East. It was from such samples that breeders developed edible varieties of this shrub. The plant is not afraid of even the most severe frosts, but reacts poorly to heat and drought. A sudden thaw in winter can destroy a shrub, since immediately after the snow melts, the plant's buds awaken and the growing season begins. Therefore, it is important to allow honeysuckle to get stronger after planting in order to survive the winter safely.

Pros of spring planting:

• the ability to monitor the development of the plant;
• rapid growth of foliage;
• a large number of fruit buds.

In spring, the seedling is placed in open ground from mid-March to the end of April. It is important not to miss the moment when planting is allowed, because if you do it too early or late (during the period of bud swelling), then it will not take root. This is the main disadvantage of spring planting. It is very difficult to accurately calculate the timing, so the young plant will get sick and may die.

Benefits of autumn planting:

• high survival rate;
• quick and comfortable rooting;
• hardening (stratification) of seedlings.

This method has no disadvantages, so it is best to plant honeysuckle in the fall. This will allow the young plant to grow stronger and begin to grow green mass faster in the spring.

Landing dates

If all the rules for planting honeysuckle are followed, the tree begins to bear fruit after 2 years.

Specific planting dates should be chosen based on the climatic characteristics of the region and the weather forecast. The time must be calculated in such a way that after placing the seedling in the ground there will be enough warm days for it to take root: frosts should occur no earlier than a month later.

Recommended timing depending on the band

• South - from mid-October to mid-November.
• Middle zone, Moscow and Moscow region - from mid-September to the 10th of October.
• Leningrad region - from early to mid-September.
• The Urals and Siberia - from the first ten days of September to the beginning of October.

Lucky numbers of the lunar calendar for 2022

• 1–4, 8–9, 22–24, 30 September;
• 1–2, 10–11, 15–16, 20–21, 26 October;
• November 1–3, 22–23, 29–30.

Disembarkation times depending on region

Honeysuckle is planted from the beginning of September to the end of October. Autumn weather in different regions differs significantly, so they focus on local conditions:

Gardener Elena Frolova advises planting seedlings with a closed root at any time - the plant in the pot has already taken root and has grown a good root system.

On a note. The southern, hot and dry climate is not suitable for growing “northern grapes”, so in these regions it is very rare to find honeysuckle in the garden.

Selection and preparation of a site

Honeysuckle loves sun and moist soil, but does not tolerate strong winds

The site for planting honeysuckle must meet the following conditions:

• sufficient sunlight for foliage and light shade for the root system;
• protection from drafts and sudden gusts of wind;
• The groundwater level is not higher than 1.5 m.

The most suitable places are small lowlands, but without excessive stagnation of water during melting snow and rain. Ideally, bushes from the north will cover buildings or a solid fence.

The shrub prefers to grow in well-drained loamy or sandy loam soil with low or neutral acidity.

The site must be dug up 30–40 days before planting. Pour chalk or fluff lime (200 g per square meter) into highly acidic soil. In peat soils, add an additional bucket of coarse river sand and dry clay per square meter. Sandy soils that do not retain moisture and nutrients well should be supplemented with loam and peat (5 kg per square meter).

Good neighbors of the bush are apple, pear, plum and cherry. You cannot plant honeysuckle next to walnuts or apricots: the powerful roots of these trees will oppress the bush and deprive it of nutrients.

Honeysuckle is a self-fertile plant, therefore, to obtain high yields, at least 3 bushes of different varieties must be planted on the site for cross-pollination.

Honeysuckle - what kind of “fruit” is it?

Unfortunately, edible honeysuckle (also called blue honeysuckle) is a very underrated and not very popular shrub. Perhaps in many gardens you can find bushes of currants, gooseberries, raspberries, and sea buckthorn, but blue berries of an unusual shape are a rare guest.

The shrub has a developed branched root system and can grow up to 1.5-2.5 meters in height. The lifespan of one bush is up to fifty years, the most intense fruiting begins at seven years and lasts up to half the life of the plant.

Question and answer: when does the bush begin to bear fruit after planting? Fruiting begins after 3-4 years.

The edible variety of the plant is a northern crop. A distinctive feature is that it is cold-resistant and does not tolerate heat and scorching sun very well . For this reason, it is rare in the South, although breeders have developed zoned varieties. By the way, the plant bears fruit almost earlier than all other crops!

Why should every gardener and summer resident plant honeysuckle? There are a number of good reasons for this:

• The berry has a pleasant and elegant taste that even a gourmet will appreciate!
• The content of vitamins, microelements and other useful substances is impressive. Along with pleasant taste sensations, you will give your body a beneficial effect.
• The shrub is frost-resistant and is little susceptible to diseases and pests.
• The edible variety is easy to care for, so growing it will not cause you much trouble and will not take up much of your time.
• You can use shrubs to make a stunning living fence! The bushes will look very organic and interesting.

Important! Edible honeysuckle requires cross-pollination to bear fruit. For this reason, you need to plant not one, but two, three or four bushes of different varieties in the garden. The interval between them is two to three meters.

Selection of planting material

It is worth remembering that honeysuckle also has decorative inedible species.

There are decorative and edible varieties of honeysuckle, so seedlings are purchased with specific purposes in mind. To avoid over-grading, you should buy planting material in specialized stores or nurseries.

The main criteria for a quality seedling:

• age 2–3 years;
• strong trunk and 2–4 side shoots without signs of damage;
• healthy, dense kidneys;
• fresh, clean, well-developed leaves;
• strong, flexible, well-developed roots.

How to plant correctly: step-by-step recommendations

If the seedling was not dug up the day before, but was bought in a store with a packaged root system, it is soaked in a bucket of water for 2 hours so that the roots straighten and are saturated with moisture. At the same time, inspect the plant for rot or damage.

If lesions are found, they are cleaned down to healthy tissue, and the seedling is kept in a solution of Maxim or potassium permanganate for half an hour.

The seedling is placed in the center of the planting hole, having previously driven in a stake to which it will be tied. A mound of prepared soil is placed at the bottom of the hole, on which the plant is placed.

The hole is filled in, compacting the soil with hands. The root collar of honeysuckle should be at ground level.

The bush is watered abundantly.

Care after planting is not difficult. The soil is mulched with peat, wood chips, fallen leaves, straw chaff, and old hay. If there is no rain, the plant is watered again a few days after planting.

Important! Most varieties of honeysuckle do not produce a crop without cross-pollination, so at least 3 plants are planted in the garden.

Planting instructions with photos and videos

At least 3 honeysuckle bushes should be planted on the site, since the plant is self-sterile

The main material for obtaining new honeysuckle specimens is seedlings and cuttings. Their planting technology has some similarities and differences.

Planting seedlings

Honeysuckle has good resistance to pests

Technology for planting honeysuckle seedlings:

1. A few days before the process, prepare holes 30 cm deep and 40–45 cm wide. Place drainage (expanded clay or pebbles) 5 cm high at the bottom. The distance between plants is 1.5–2 m. Mix the top layer of soil from the pit with 2 buckets humus or compost, a liter jar of wood ash and 100 g of superphosphate. Pour the prepared mixture into the hole and water generously.
2. On the day of planting, make a depression in the center of the hole the size of the plant’s roots. Place the seedling in the prepared hole at such a depth that the root collar is at a height of 4–5 cm from the surface.
3. Carefully cover the roots with the prepared nutrient mixture, compacting it. Make an earthen roller along the edge of the hole to prevent water from spreading when watering.
4. Water the seedling with a bucket of water. Mulch the surface with chopped straw, sawdust, peat or humus.

Rooting and planting cuttings

You can use newspaper as mulch: it retains moisture well and keeps weeds out.

To obtain a new honeysuckle bush, green and woody shoots are suitable. In autumn, for rooting, it is recommended to use green cuttings cut from the bush in early summer. A shoot that has lost flexibility is selected. The crown is not suitable for rooting, so a piece 15 cm long must be made from the middle part.

Technology of rooting and planting cuttings:

1. In the lower part of the workpiece, make a cut directly under the bud. At the top - 1 cm above the kidney. Remove the lower leaves from the cuttings and shorten the top 2–3 pairs by half.
2. To stimulate the formation of roots, place the cuttings in a solution of Kornevin or Heteroauxin for a day.
3. Plant the blanks in boxes or pots and place them in a greenhouse or apartment. The best soil for rooting is a mixture of peat and sand in a ratio of 1:3. Earth mixed with sand in the same proportions is quite suitable.
4. Deepen the cuttings into the soil 3–4 cm and cover with transparent plastic bottles.
5. After 3–4 weeks, roots will appear on the workpieces and new leaves will begin to form. After this, the cover can be removed.
6. Move seedlings grown from cuttings into open ground in early autumn using the technology described above. 2 weeks before planting, harden young plants with walks in the fresh air, starting from 30 minutes a day and gradually increasing the time.

Caring for young plantings

With the arrival of spring, hill up the planted bushes and dig up the soil around them with half a shovel. Mulch young honeysuckle with humus. Caring for honeysuckle includes regular watering, daily in hot, dry summers. After watering, the soil must be loosened and weeded as necessary. Fertilizer is applied only from the third year of the bush’s life. It is enough to feed young plantings with compost in the spring (1 bucket per bush), and add ash (150 g) to the soil in the fall. To prevent diseases and pest damage in summer, shrubs are treated with special products. As for pruning, young honeysuckle does not need it during the first five years. At this time, her growth is slow. It is enough to remove dry and diseased branches in the spring.

Preparing seedlings for wintering

Honeysuckle is a frost-resistant shrub

If the weather is dry and warm after planting the seedling, water the bush once a week. Honeysuckle is a frost-resistant shrub and, if the planting time is chosen correctly, it will overwinter without problems. To insure against poor rooting, the bush should be hilled up to 10–15 cm in height with pine litter or just soil.

How to choose honeysuckle for your garden

In nature, there are many types of honeysuckle, including inedible ones. Buying a plant on the market is associated with a certain risk - you may not get what you expected. Often this is not the seller’s fault; seedlings of some species are easy to confuse. Therefore, it is better to buy honeysuckle in specialized nurseries or from familiar gardeners.

The seedling must meet the following criteria:

1. The buds are dense and large.
2. The main trunk is thick, there are 2-3 shoots of the second order.
3. There are no signs of illness.
4. The roots are in good condition, developed, without signs of rot.
5. The seedling is at least two years old.

Purchasing such planting material is a guarantee of the health of the bush. On the contrary, by buying weak seedlings, you can later waste time and preparations on them, but not see the desired result.

If there is no honeysuckle on the site, then buy 3 seedlings to ensure pollination - the plant is self-sterile.

Number of honeysuckle bushes on the site

The crop is cross-pollinated, so there should be at least two, or even three or four varieties in the garden. If you grow only one variety (even if it is several bushes), honeysuckle will delight you with abundant flowering, but will not bear fruit.

Do not forget about the flowering time, since if the periods do not coincide, pollination will not occur and the berries will not set. The choice of pollinators is taken seriously; experts believe that the number of berries and their taste depend on this.

Joint planting options

Valuable properties of honeysuckle

The crop is not as popular as raspberries or currants, but in recent years the situation has been changing. And if previously honeysuckle was mainly grown for decorative purposes, today many varieties have been bred that produce delicious blue berries.

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They are valued for their high content of vitamins C, A, B1, B2, B9, tannins, and pectins. Acid content of berries:

• apple;
• sorrel;
• amber;
• lemon

Honeysuckle is used for stomach diseases, rheumatism, eczema, as an antipyretic and vascular-strengthening agent. Berries and juice have antiviral, choleretic, antioxidant effects.

Among the varieties considered productive are:

• Souvenir;
• Masha;
• Nymph.

Honeysuckle has been bred with berries whose taste is similar to strawberries:

• Titmouse;
• Roxana;
• Cinderella;
• Kamchadalka.

During flowering in spring, the bushes are covered with beautiful white-pink and blue flowers. Therefore, honeysuckle is often used in landscape design.

What is the appeal of honeysuckle?

• refers to garden crops, with early ripening of berries, annual fruiting;
• bears fruit on any soil, is not afraid of harsh winters;
• practically not susceptible to diseases;
• honey plant, with an abundance of pollen and nectar;
• berries have healing properties. Serve as raw materials for the production of drugs that strengthen blood vessels and capillaries, reducing blood pressure;
• landscape designers use decorative varieties of honeysuckle to create single and group compositions, as a background for flower crops, framing garden paths;
• develops in an urban environment, as it is neutral towards unfavorable external conditions;
• woodworkers use honeysuckle wood to create decorative items;
• is popular in cooking.

Transplanting honeysuckle to a new place

It happens that you need to transplant the bush to another place. The reasons are different:

• redevelopment of the site;
• initially unsuccessful choice of location;
• the desire of the new owners of the garden.

It is recommended to replant only plants under five years of age, since older honeysuckle does not take root well and often dies.

When to replant honeysuckle

It is advisable to transplant honeysuckle in the fall; in the middle zone this is from September to mid-October. It is not worth carrying out work in the spring, since the bushes begin to flow sap early, and the plant will lose a lot of strength when transplanted.

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Preparing the planting hole

Prepare the landing site in advance:

• dig holes (diameter at least 70-80 cm);
• lay drainage on the bottom (brick fragments, pebbles, expanded clay);
• add humus (up to 15 kg, 200-300 grams of superphosphate, liter of ash).

In adult bushes, the root system is well developed, so there should be enough space in the hole.

Preparing the bush for transplantation

Dry or damaged branches on the bush are carefully trimmed and the shoots are shortened. The best plant height is up to half a meter. Honeysuckle is dug in a circle, being careful not to damage the roots. It is necessary to replant with a clod of earth, so adaptation will take place faster.

Before the plant is removed, the soil is thoroughly shed. The dug honeysuckle is placed on burlap or tarpaulin, and the excess roots are carefully trimmed. The bush is placed strictly vertically in the hole, carefully laying the roots and not deepening the root collar. Cover with soil, irrigate well, and mulch the bush.

Caring for a transplanted bush

Further care is standard:

• watering;
• fertilizing

It is especially important to control soil moisture to prevent drying out. Feed the bush in the spring using complex fertilizer formulations.