Honeysuckle is a very fragrant vine that will attract bees, butterflies and hummingbirds to your garden. The many varieties come in white, yellow and peach colored flowers. Birds are attracted to the fruit of honeysuckle, which is a dark colored berry that is poisonous to people. The plant can be grown as a ground cover or on a trellis or fence. It's a favorite of birdwatchers and butterfly gardeners everywhere. If you want an easy, fast growing and flowering plant for your garden, the honeysuckle will fit the bill.
Choose a location for your honeysuckle that gets full sun or partial afternoon shade in hotter areas. You will also want to be near a fence or trellis. If you need to install one then you should do it before you plant the honeysuckle so as not to damage the plants roots.
Plant in early spring by digging a hole twice the size of the honeysuckle's root ball. Dig the hole about 1 foot from the structure you want it to climb and place plants 2 feet apart from each other.
Mix the dug out soil with compost to ensure good drainage. Place the honeysuckle in the hole at the same level it is in the container you purchased it in. Fill the hole halfway with soil and water. This will not only moisten the roots but ensure there are no air pockets around the roots, which can lead to disease. Continue to fill the hole and press the soil down firmly around the roots.
Cover the planting area with a leaf mulch to keep the soil moist. Honeysuckle does not like to be dry. Water well over the mulch and then every other day until you start to see new growth on the plant. Continue to water when the mulch and top of the soil start to feel dry.
Use a loose stretching type tie to train the branches to the structure. Do not tie anything tightly or use metal as it will damage the branches as they grow. Once the plant starts traveling up the structure, you should not have to tie it anymore.
Fertilize the plant halfway through the flowering season and then again in the spring. Do not fertilize when you first plant a you plant, wait until it is well established. Continue to fertilize in this pattern each year.
Prune the plant back in the fall. The first fall it may only need to pruned lightly but from then on you may want to prune off at least a third to half of the vines as it is an aggressive grower. If you have the room for it to grow, you don't have to prune it, but it will take over if not watched carefully.