Caring for honeysuckle in the fall: features of watering, fertilizing, spraying, pruning patterns and rules, grafting, planting technology, propagation by cuttings

When and where to start preparing honeysuckle for winter

Honeysuckle is an unpretentious plant; many of its species can withstand Siberian winters even without shelter. But in order to grow a rich harvest of berries, so that the plant has a well-groomed appearance, it must be monitored.

The harvest and dormant period for the shrub begins earlier than for most fruit trees. By the end of summer, the plant must begin to be prepared for winter . This includes pruning branches, removing weeds and dry branches, and feeding the plant. Gardeners have differing opinions regarding fallen leaves. Some believe that this is additional protection from the cold and it is not necessary to remove dry leaves. Others call for the removal of fallen leaves, in which garden pests hide for the winter.

Honeysuckle after harvest

Like all plants, berry plants weaken after they release all their nutrients into the fruit. Therefore, during the entire growing season, the bushes need to be helped “materially”: apply fertilizers for honeysuckle in the fall, spring and summer. In the spring to gain green mass and complete bud formation, in the summer - to support the bush with a full range of elements, in the autumn - for a good wintering.

Technology for autumn planting honeysuckle

Autumn planting and replanting of shrubs is preferable to spring. This is due to the fact that plants wake up early after wintering. If you replant them at this time, they will probably not have time to grow in the same season. But, taking into account the early “departure” of plants for winter, autumn replanting should be carried out earlier than most garden trees. When carrying out the transplantation procedure, it is necessary to provide for the following specific requirements of honeysuckle:

Choosing a site for its cultivation. Lonicera does not like dampness; it is a light-loving plant. It is optimal for its top to be in the sun, and its lower part to be in partial shade.
Honeysuckle prefers well-drained soil with a slightly acidic reaction. If the soil on the site is not of a suitable composition, then you need to add peat, sand and turf to it.
To obtain a large harvest of fruits, it is necessary to plant shrubs in groups.
The best time to plant lonicera is September.

Planting technology:

The plant requires a hole measuring 45 by 45 cm. A bucket of humus, 200 grams of superphosphate and four times less potassium salt should be added to it.
The roots are pre-soaked in fertilizers and straightened before planting.
After planting, the bushes are watered well, and then the tree trunk circle is mulched.
Neighboring bushes should retreat from each other by a meter and a half.
The root collar must be left flush with the ground. After watering, it will gradually drop a couple of centimeters.

Planting and transplanting

Autumn is the most favorable time to plant or replant honeysuckle. It is irrational to leave these activities until the spring, since honeysuckle begins to grow very early, in March - April, depending on the region.

Replanting an already growing honeysuckle to a new location is possible only as a last resort, since the shrub really does not like damage to its roots . If replanting is necessary, you need to dig up the bush, keeping as much soil as possible on the roots. The dug up shrub is placed on burlap and dragged to a new planting site.

The honeysuckle bush is replanted only when absolutely necessary with a large lump of earth

Recommendations for caring for honeysuckle in autumn

Autumn care for honeysuckle begins at the end of summer; this is a whole range of activities that must be completed before the cold weather. All of them contribute to abundant flowering and fruiting of the bush in the next season. To do this, you need to take care of adding the necessary nutrients to the soil.

Autumn feeding of honeysuckle

Potassium and phosphorus fertilizers are used for autumn feeding. Per square meter of bed you need to add 30 grams of superphosphate and 20 grams of potassium salts. But every three years you should also pamper the bushes with organic matter - humus or mature compost. This will create the preconditions for the development of beneficial bacteria in the soil.

Nitrogen fertilizing can provoke the growth of shrubs on the eve of wintering and bud break. This will lead to the death of the plants.

The root zone needs to be fertilized using the following technology:

For newly planted bushes, holes are dug around the circumference with a depth of a third of a meter, and for rooted bushes this depth is doubled.
Mullein diluted six times or bird droppings diluted ten times and mineral fertilizers are poured into the recesses.
Peat is used for mulching.

About watering honeysuckle in autumn

Honeysuckle is a moisture-loving plant; even after harvesting, it needs regular watering, although it becomes less frequent and plentiful.

At the same time, you cannot loosen or dig up the soil, because... Honeysuckle's roots are superficial and can be injured. But the mulching layer of sawdust or compost must be changed frequently, because... It retains moisture well and prevents weeds from growing.

Scheme and rules for pruning honeysuckle in autumn

Honeysuckle bushes well , many shoots form on old branches, and young shoots grow from the basal buds. To prevent the branching process from being disorderly, and to prevent the shrub from acquiring a sloppy appearance, regular pruning is necessary.

During the pruning process, the following rules should be observed:

Plants need it only five years after planting; if all the subtleties of the process are observed, they will need the next pruning only after a couple of years.
Only old and dry shoots should be removed.
At the end of pruning, at least five shoots should remain on the bush.
Young branches should not be removed, because it is on them that the buds form.
First of all, the top of the skeletal branch is cut off; the cut is made in the middle of the branch, and not near its base.
The remaining branches are thinned out, removing small shoots that thicken the crown, as well as inward and weakened branches.
After this, the appearance of growths will be ensured the next year.
A shrub that has reached twenty years of age is pruned at a height of no more than 40 cm, i.e. on the stump.

Spraying honeysuckle in autumn

Lonicera is very resistant to pests and diseases, but for preventive purposes, once every couple of years in early spring or autumn after leaf fall, each bush is sprayed with diluted urea. In this case, 700 grams of granules are used per bucket of water.

Top dressing

In the middle of summer, when the planting of the future harvest begins, it is necessary to feed the honeysuckle with ash . In rainy summers, simply pour 1-2 cups of ash under the bush, distributing it evenly over the ground. In dry weather, it is better to prepare an ash solution and pour it over each bush separately.

To prepare an ash solution, pour 1 cup of ash with 1 liter of boiling water and let it brew for 4–5 hours. Bring the resulting solution to 10 liters and water the plant.

In late autumn, it is advisable to add 0.5–1 bucket of compost or humus under each bush - this is food for the spring. For decorative honeysuckle, it is better to do this procedure once every 3 years.

Sheltering honeysuckle for the winter

When covering lonicera before wintering, you first need to figure out what type of honeysuckle it is. Frost-resistant varieties do not need winter shelter, because... their flower and growth buds can withstand even forty-degree frosts. Mostly edible plant species have these qualities. Even when flowering, they are able to withstand eight-degree frosts . But still, it is not an unnecessary measure of protection for them to tie the branches into bunches and bend them to the ground. This allows you to avoid branches breaking off under heavy snow cover.

Decorative varieties are not so hardy. Climbing vines especially need shelter. Their supports are removed, bending the plants to the ground, then they are sprinkled with spruce branches or sawdust on top. It is also good to cover the plants with rolled covering material. Snow cover provides additional protection from the cold.

In most winters, these plants need protection from pests. Thus, bullfinches peck out their fruit buds, and mice and hares gnaw their bark. To prevent this from happening, a net is placed over the bush in the winter.

Basic rules for pruning

Many new gardeners are interested in the question: how to prune honeysuckle in the fall, and why it needs to be done. Experienced summer residents highlight the following points about when and why to carry out this procedure:

when planting a young seedling if it has a damaged root system. All diseased and deformed roots are cut off;
It is recommended to perform sanitary pruning in the spring after the snow melts. It removes frozen and broken branches, as well as shoots infected with pests and diseases;
When forming the crown of a plant, it is important to remove all dry and protruding branches on decorative varieties;
If the seedling has reached 3 years of age, it undergoes formative pruning. It removes large branches growing in the wrong position, weak and diseased shoots, and lower branches;
with rejuvenating pruning, old shoots that will not bear fruit, as well as broken and thin branches are removed;
radical rejuvenation is carried out every 15 years. In this case, all branches are shortened to 30 cm. The correct shape and crown can be formed in a few years;
If there are diseases and pests on the bush, diseased branches are cut off, removed from the site and burned. The plant is treated with special preparations.

Time and technology of autumn grafting of honeysuckle

Autumn grafting of honeysuckle is carried out after leaf fall, so that the scion has time to take root, but cannot grow with the appearance of new buds. The technology of this process is simple:

The scion and rootstock are cut obliquely with a sharp tool.
Connect them tightly and secure this place with tape.
Cover the top with film and a sheet of paper.
The last layer is wrapped with twine on top and bottom.
The vaccination is checked after three weeks.

How to propagate honeysuckle in the fall by cuttings

Honeysuckle is most effectively propagated by cuttings. Green cuttings, starting in summer and continuing until autumn, are effective. In the early morning, apical shoots 15 cm long are harvested. Only a couple of upper leaves, cut in half, are left on them. The remaining leaves are removed. An oblique cut is made under the bud to stimulate root formation. The cuttings tied into bundles are lowered into the root stimulator.

Then the shoots are rooted. The bottom of the greenhouse is covered with drainage made of pebbles or crushed stone. A twenty-centimeter soil layer is placed on it, and on top is a ten-centimeter substrate made of equal parts of peat and sand. Water this mixture well.

The shoots are planted in rows, leaving 10 cm between them, and half as much between neighboring plants. They are placed vertically, deepening halfway. Then they are watered and covered with film. At first, they need frequent spraying (up to 10 times). To do this, use a spray bottle. After a couple of weeks, after the roots have formed, the amount of watering is reduced.

By the beginning of autumn, the cuttings already have developed roots . For wintering, the cuttings remain in the same place. They are mulched with peat, covered with leaves and coniferous branches with a layer of several centimeters. In the spring they are planted in open ground, and by autumn they become full-fledged trees that can be planted in a permanent place.

Another option for propagating honeysuckle by cuttings is to use lignified shoots. They are harvested after leaf fall, stored in the basement in winter or buried in soil.