How to plant honeysuckle in autumn?
Honeysuckle is a frost-hardy shrub that can live in one place for many years and bear fruit abundantly. Distinguish between berry honeysuckle and decorative. To acquire a useful shrub, experienced gardeners recommend planting honeysuckle in the fall (in September - early October). Read, how to propagate honeysuckle?
Choosing a landing site
The place for planting honeysuckle must be chosen in such a way that over time the top of the bush is well lit, but the root part is in partial shade. An ideal place would be a draft-free area with fertile soil of neutral acidity.
Avoid shady and high ground areas with sandy soil.
Planting pit preparation
The planting hole must be prepared a few days before planting honeysuckle... Its diameter should be approximately 40 cm and its depth should be between 25 and 40 cm. Apply fertilizer:
- 10 kg of humus;
- 200 g superphosphate;
- 40 g of potassium salt.
Mix the fertilizers with the soil with a shovel and water the hole. If necessary (if the soil is clayey), add sod soil, sand and wood ash. Then cover the planting hole on top and leave for 4 days.
The choice of planting material
For reproduction of honeysuckle, rooted cuttings not older than 2 years are used. Seedlings that are too tall (more than 1.5 m) may not take root, but it is also better not to take small ones (less than 25 cm), since they have not yet developed.
Planting a honeysuckle seedling
In order for honeysuckle to produce a generous and tasty harvest, it should be planted in groups (at least two or three plants), while choosing seedlings of different varieties. This is due to the fact that honeysuckle is self-infertile.
Before planting, the seedlings should be kept in a heteroauxin solution for a day (50 g of the preparation per 1 liter of water).
Plant a seedling in a prepared planting hole, spread the roots and compact the soil around them well so that there are no voids left. Water the bush and mulch. The root collar should be slightly deepened - no more than 3 cm. In group plantings, the distance between the seedlings should be about a meter, and the row spacing should be 2.5 meters.
Care of young plantings
With the arrival of spring, spud the planted bushes, dig around the soil with a shovel half-bayonet. Mulch the young honeysuckle with humus.
Honeysuckle care includes regular watering, in hot dry summers - daily. After watering, the ground must be loosened and weeded as needed.
Fertilizer is applied only from the third year of the bush's life. It is enough to feed young plantings with compost in spring (1 bucket per bush), and in autumn add ash to the soil (150 g). For the prevention of diseases and pests in the summer, shrubs are treated with special means.
As for pruning, during the first five years, young honeysuckle does not need it. At this time, her growth is slow. It is enough to remove dry and diseased branches in the spring.
Read also: honeysuckle planting and care in the suburbs (varieties)!