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Mon, Jul 2, 12 at 10:56
| My 30 year old red berry honey suckle hedge is showing a lot of dead branches. It is about four feet high. When is a good time to cut it back and how low should I cut it. I was thinking of cutting it to the ground. Any ideas thanks. |
Follow-Up Postings:
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| I've cut Tartarian honeysuckle to the ground many times to rejuvenate. They grow back rapidly. The ideal time would be first thing in the spring, but you can still do it right now -- I wouldn't wait more than another 2 weeks, though, the new growth will need time to harden off in the fall. OTOH, it's honeysuckle, even if the new growth is green in the fall and is killed back, the bush won't die. You can cut it literally to about within an inch of the ground. Or, if the wood still looks sound, you can cut a bit higher as you see fit. |
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- Posted by ken_adrian z5 (My Page) on Mon, Jul 2, 12 at 16:00
| You can cut it literally to about within an inch of the ground. ==>> i would prefer.. he cut it metaphorically .. its much safer ... ken |
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- Posted by lisanti07028 z6NJ (My Page) on Mon, Jul 2, 12 at 16:05
| I wouldn't cut it to the ground - it needs some leaves to get started again - but start by getting rid of the truly dead branches and then working back to a healthy new branch. The dead stuff you can cut now. You can probably clean the rest of it up now too, but you may lose some flowering, now or next spring, depending on which honeysuckle you have. I massacred one of my sempervirens last summer, figuring that it was better to lose some flowers than look at that brown mess anymore, and the vine came back just as bushy as ever by the beginning of winter. It's a pretty tough plant. |
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