Pruning honeysuckle: how to do it

It's best to prune honeysuckle as soon as it's finished blooming. Most varieties bloom until late summer, so after that, you can start pruning.

Read more below the advertisement

The goal of pruning your honeysuckle is to create a beautiful branch system that will produce new flowers. This is best done in late summer or early autumn. Prune your honeysuckle carefully, as the flower buds form in one growing season and open in the next. So never cut away all the new growth from the summer, or you'll have no flowers next year.

Tip!

Tip for winter honeysuckle: It is also best to prune winter honeysuckle after flowering, but because this species flowers between December or January and March, April is the best time for this.

Here's how to prune honeysuckle in late summer or early autumn:

First, carefully examine your honeysuckle to determine where you want to prune. Visually select three or four main branches you want to keep. These branches will form the foundation for your final branch system.

You might need a stepladder or ladder to reach everything easily. We can't emphasize this enough, but be careful when using one! Always make sure there are three limbs supporting each other—for example, two feet and one hand—to prevent nasty accidents. Also, make sure your ladder is sturdy and stable.

First, remove all dead, weak, or diseased branches with clean, sharp pruning shears. Tie all loose main branches to the support, leaving plenty of space between them. Finally, cut back a third of the side shoots to a few buds.