Description of curly honeysuckle
This plant belongs to the category of climbing shrubs, reaching a height of 4-5 meters. Usually they are planted near fences and other supports to which the shoots cling. Leaves are dark green, ovoid. Saplings bloom in the third year of life. Climbing honeysuckle flowers appear throughout the summer and early autumn (in the south - until October).
They are distinguished by a two-tone color - raspberry on the outside, and yellow on the inside, with a pleasant aroma. Fruits - inedible red berries, are formed at the end of summer.
Curly honeysuckle has an average winter hardiness (zone 5), withstands frosts down to -25 ° C. Suitable growing regions are:
- middle band;
- Volga region;
- Black earth;
- southern regions.
It is difficult to grow such a culture in the Northwest and very difficult in regions with severe winters (in the Urals, Siberia and the Far East).
Varieties
Curly honeysuckle, planting and caring for which will not be difficult, will decorate any site. Today gardeners have about 200 varieties of this plant. There are several classifications depending on the characteristic taken as a basis. Some are based on the shape of the plant, some on its height. There is also a division of varieties depending on the ripening time of the berries. If we talk about the height of the plant, then such varieties as Ramenskaya honeysuckle, Lakomka, Souvenir, Julia and Kamchadalka are undersized. Their height does not exceed 150 centimeters. Medium-sized, whose height ranges from 150 to 200 centimeters, include Korchaga, Kuminovka, Cinderella, Shahinya and Kingfisher. Shrubs are considered tall if their height exceeds 200 centimeters. Notable representatives are Nymph, Blue Spindle and Fortune.
Early ripening, mid-ripening and late-ripening varieties are distinguished according to the ripening period. Blue spindle, Princess Diana, Ulyana, Gzhel early and Roxana are early maturing varieties. Omega, Cinderella, Shahinya, Bakcharsky giant, Souvenir and Yugan are mid-season varieties. And later of all, Kingfisher, Nymph, Ramenskaya, Bakcharskaya Jubilee, Moscow 23 and Lakomka ripen.
Types of curly honeysuckle
There are more than ten types of climbing honeysuckle, among them the most frost-resistant are common in Russia. Descriptions and photos of varieties suitable for growing in Russia will help you choose the best option.
Honeysuckle
Winter-hardy honeysuckle, growing up to 6 meters.
Caprifoli produces red-yellow flowers with a pleasant aroma.
Closer to autumn, red berries form on the vine, which also adorn the site.
Brown
Another variety that grows up to 5 meters in height. Produces abundant orange and red flowers that last 3-4 weeks.
The Brown variety has a high winter hardiness.
Hekrota
Liana up to 4 meters in height with tubular, very fragrant flowers of yellow and pink shades.
Hecrot does not form edible fruits, but blooms for a very long time
Bedspread
Another winter-hardy curly honeysuckle. Differs in numerous bright flowers and interesting black fruits.
Veil is distinguished by early flowering, which begins in May and lasts until July.
Korolkova
An unpretentious variety of climbing honeysuckle with light pink, delicate flowers.After flowering, lasting two weeks, spherical fruits of a bright orange hue appear on the shoots, which ripen in early September.
The Korolkov variety grows up to 3 m in height
Tatarskaya
Low shrub (no more than 3 m) with abundant, highly branched shoots. Numerous flowers give a pleasant scent.
Tatar honeysuckle is a good spring-summer honey plant, producing light honey and dirty yellow pollen
Gerald
Evergreen climbing honeysuckle, characterized by high winter hardiness. Gives small flowers of white and yellow shades.
This variety of honeysuckle is notable for the fact that the foliage does not fall off even during wintering.
Alba
Curly variety with abundant white flowers. Used in landscape gardening design.
The variety is suitable for vertical and horizontal landscaping
Pruning
In the first year of growing, you should not prune branches. Curly varieties need to be formed from the second year, leaving 3-4 strong skeletal branches on the stem, the rest must be removed. In subsequent years, only sanitary pruning will be needed: in the fall - dry, broken and excess (growing incorrectly) branches, and in early spring - frozen shoots. Old vines, which bloom less and less, need to be rejuvenated by cutting off completely, leaving only 50 cm of the stem from the root.
Important! It is not necessary to cut the vine "under the stump" before each wintering, so as not to deprive it of flowering. Honeysuckle produces flowers on second-order shoots, which in cold regions, when fully cut, may not have time to form flower ovaries.
Shrubs need a different pruning mode. Until 5-7 years old, only sanitary pruning is carried out... Then in the fall the bush is pruned to the desired size, giving them a beautiful shape. This shape must be maintained annually, as well as thinning the bushes. Such pruning gives the plants an aesthetic appearance and makes them healthy. Aged bushes need to be rejuvenated by removing all the lower skeletal branches, clearing the stem from them 40 cm from the root.
Curly honeysuckle in landscape design
Since decorative honeysuckle refers to climbing plants, it must be tied to a support and used in landscape design in the following options:
- hedge - for these purposes, for example, honeysuckle is suitable;
- decorative arches in the center of the garden;
- green roof over the recreation area;
- decoration next to the entrance;
- green wall.
In garden design, climbing honeysuckle goes well with various perennials: stunted conifers, loosestrife, garden balsam, anemone and others.
It also looks great in single plantings on open, manicured lawns.
Honeysuckle and other climbing plants are often used in pergolas
Planting and caring for climbing honeysuckle
For breeding, curly honeysuckle is purchased in proven nurseries or stores. It is best to choose two-year-old seedlings with bare roots. They should be sufficiently developed, healthy in appearance, without external damage. They are planted in the spring, when the snow has already melted, but the buds are not yet swollen.
Landing dates
When choosing landing dates, there are two main options:
- Early spring, until the buds awaken, before they swell.
- In late autumn, when the main leaf fall has already passed.
You can choose any period. Many gardeners believe that spring planting is best suited for most regions of Russia. As for the southern regions, climbing honeysuckle can be planted here even in mid-October.
Where to plant curly honeysuckle
When choosing a place to plant honeysuckle, you need to pay attention to several points:
- The climbing culture is very fond of bright sunlight, so the preferred place for it is an open, well-warmed area.
- The soil should be fertile and light enough.If the soil is depleted, organic matter and mineral fertilizers must be applied during planting.
- The reaction of the soil should be neutral - curly honeysuckle does not like acidified soil. In this case, you can add slaked lime in the amount of 200-300 g per 1 m2 or wood ash in about the same amount.
Important! If you plant several honeysuckles at once, the distance between them should be 1.5-2 meters.
Landing rules
The technology of planting curly honeysuckle is standard:
- They clean and dig up the site.
- A planting pit is formed with a depth and diameter of about 50 cm.
- Lay a layer of drainage 10-12 cm (you can take fragments of bricks, rubble and other small stones).
- Spread out a mixture of garden soil with compost (in equal proportions), add 50 g of superphosphate and 200-300 g of wood ash.
- If the soil is not very fertile, you can add rotted manure.
- Mix thoroughly and root the seedling. In this case, the root collar should remain on the surface, i.e. it is not necessary to deepen too much.
- Water abundantly and lay a layer of mulch made of straw, peat, spruce branches or other materials at hand.
In the first season, a young curly honeysuckle seedling should be immediately tied to a support. Then it will go up in the desired direction, which can be adjusted as needed.
Curly honeysuckle must be tied to a support (for example, to an arch)
Watering and feeding
In care, curly honeysuckle is not capricious, so a novice summer resident will be able to cope with its breeding. In the first season, it requires abundant watering - you can add a bucket every 10 days, and in hot weather - weekly. If it rains, no additional watering is needed. When a prolonged drought sets in, water is given regularly, and the soil is loosened and the seedling is sprayed.
As for fertilizers, it is not necessary to give them in the first season. Starting next year, it is recommended to regularly feed for lush flowering and confident growth. Fertilizers for climbing honeysuckle are given three times per season:
- At the end of March or at the beginning of April, a complex mineral fertilizer is applied in 2 tbsp. l. per 1 m2.
- In early summer, 10-15 days before flowering, it is useful to add any organic matter, for example, an infusion of chicken droppings.
- At the end of August, 1 glass of wood ash (200 g) per 1 m2 is introduced into the soil. It will not only provide the climbing honeysuckle with nutrients, but also prevent possible acidification of the soil.
Attention! Gardeners recommend mulching the soil with humus and compost in a small layer (4 cm) every spring.
This will provide the tree with trace elements and also protect the soil from rapid drying out.
Pruning curly honeysuckle
Usually, honeysuckle is pruned in early spring. To do this, take a pruner and remove all damaged, as well as dry, frozen shoots. It is also useful to carry out a shaping haircut, shortening all protruding branches by 1/3 of the length.
Honeysuckle easily tolerates such pruning - the bush can be formed annually, removing unnecessary shoots. A sanitary haircut is carried out as needed, and a stimulating one (removal of old branches) - once every 3 years, and only on adult plants (over 6 years old).
Attention! In some varieties, after the end of flowering, the ovaries can be removed, since they do not give much beauty.
Wintering
Shrub varieties of climbing honeysuckle tolerate winter well enough and do not need special shelter. Vines are less resistant to frost, so in late autumn they are removed from the supports and laid on the ground and a large layer of straw, hay or spruce branches is thrown over, and spandbond or other insulation is placed on top.
Reproduction
By seed method
Seeds stratified within 1.5-2 months are sown in early spring directly into the soil. Sowing depth - 1.5-2 cm. With this method of planting, seedlings will appear in September. Germination can be accelerated by growing honeysuckle through seedlings, placing the seeds for germination in micro-greenhouses at a temperature of about 25 degrees, where there will be constant high humidity. In such conditions, seedlings will appear in about a month and a half. As a rule, the plant begins to bloom from the third year of life.
Recommendation. Seeds must be protected from sunlight, which inhibits germination. Young shoots also need to be shaded.
How to propagate curly honeysuckle
Decorative honeysuckle at home can be propagated in any convenient way:
- seeds;
- layering;
- dividing the bush;
- cuttings.
One of the simplest methods that gives good results is layering.
The procedure begins in mid-spring, when the snow has completely melted, and at night the temperature will not drop below +5 ° C.
The algorithm of actions is as follows:
- They dig a small trench 10-15 cm deep.
- One of the shoots is carefully bent to the ground and placed in this trench.
- Fix with pegs and sprinkle with earth.
- Water regularly to keep the soil moderately moist.
- They are fed along with the rest of the plant.
In the fall, ready-made layers are obtained, which can be carefully separated and transplanted to a permanent place (the root collar should remain on the surface).
Reproduction of curly honeysuckle by cuttings is also carried out in the spring. Several shoots 10 cm long with two internodes are cut, grown in a moist substrate under glass. A month later, a greenhouse is opened for constant ventilation, and in the fall they are planted in open ground.
Important! Layers and cuttings grown for the winter must be mulched. Then they will survive the frosts well and will grow in the spring.
Diseases and pests
Ornamental curly honeysuckle copes well with diseases and pests, but sometimes it can suffer from a strong infestation of aphids. In this case, it is recommended to use folk remedies or insecticides, for example:
- a solution of wood ash or baking soda;
- infusion of onion peel;
- Biotlin;
- Karate;
- Confidor and others.
In rare cases, the vine is affected by various fungal infections, for example:
- ramulariasis;
- cercosporosis;
- powdery mildew.
They can be determined by external signs - various extraneous formations appear on the leaves. These can be spots of a dirty brown color, "powdery" bloom, swellings, bumps. At the first symptoms, the foliage of the climbing honeysuckle should be completely treated with fungicides. Bordeaux liquid, Maxim, Topaz, Fitosporin and others are used.
Mealy bloom is a characteristic symptom of fungal infection of curly honeysuckle.
