The correct method for pruning honeysuckle branches in winter

Honeysuckle is a semi-evergreen twining shrub with a well-developed root system and tolerance to drought and poor soil, making it an ideal plant for soil and water conservation. The pruning of honeysuckle varies depending on the planting form, site conditions and management level. Its winter pruning techniques are introduced as follows:  

     1. Pruning period  Winter pruning of honeysuckle is best carried out from December each year to early March of the following year.       2. Pruning methods  1. Pruning of young plants. Pruning of young plants focuses on shaping, with emphasis on developing good primary, secondary and tertiary scaffold branches to form a firm framework and lay the foundation for future high yields. The plant shape generally adopts the natural round-headed form and the umbrella form.       In the pruning of the planting year, the natural round-headed form keeps 1 branch and the umbrella form keeps 3 branches; the branches are cut back leaving 3 to 5 nodes, and all other branches are removed entirely. In the second year of pruning, the natural round-headed form keeps 2 to 3 and the umbrella form keeps 6 to 7 vigorous branches as primary scaffold branches, cut back leaving 3 to 5 nodes, and all other branches are removed entirely. In the third year of pruning, the natural round-headed form selects and keeps 7 to 11 and the umbrella form selects and keeps 12 to 15 branches as secondary scaffold branches, thus developing good primary, secondary and tertiary scaffold branches.       2. Pruning of mature plants. The framework of mature plants has basically formed, and pruning mainly aims to develop vigorous flowering mother branches, using new shoots to adjust the angle of scaffold branches, removing weak ones and keeping strong ones. The base diameter of the flowering mother branches selected and kept must be more than 0.5 cm. Each secondary scaffold branch keeps at most 2 to 3 flowering mother branches, each tertiary scaffold branch keeps at most 4 to 5, and the whole plant keeps 80 to 120 flowering mother branches. When pruning, remove crossing branches, drooping branches, dead and weak branches, diseased and pest-infested branches and ineffective branches. The flowering mother branches kept should be cut back: vigorous ones lightly cut leaving 4 to 5 nodes, moderate ones heavily cut leaving 2 to 3 nodes, and they should be distributed evenly and laid out reasonably.      3. Pruning of old plants. For honeysuckle more than 20 years old, the plant gradually ages. At this time, in addition to keeping enough flowering mother branches, pruning mainly involves renewing and rejuvenating the scaffold branches, so that the plant is old in age but the branches are young in age, which is the only way to maintain yield. The method is to combine thinning and cutting back, suppressing the front and promoting the back.