How to Prune Honeysuckle? Key Technical Points Explained in Detail

The quality of honeysuckle pruning directly affects the yield. Different varieties and flower ages require different pruning methods. If pruned well, the yield can be increased by 30%-40%. However, most growers currently do not know much about honeysuckle pruning techniques, especially new growers, who are even less sure how to prune and when to prune, resulting in few flowers, scattered blooming, and low yields. The Medicinal Materials Research Institute has summarized practical experience in honeysuckle pruning in recent years. Here are a few suggestions on pruning for readers' reference.

1. Prune according to variety

At present, the mainly cultivated honeysuckle varieties are Damaohua and Jizhuahua. Damaohua, commonly known as Maohua, has a short, large, loose bush shape; flower buds do not grow at the tips of flowering branches; the buds are plump and the branches are relatively long, prone to twining; it blooms relatively late and has a well-developed root system, tolerating drought and poor soil, making it suitable for cultivation on mountain slopes and at field edges. Jizhuahua has flower buds born at the tips, clustered densely like chicken claws; the branches are thick, short, and upright; the bush shape is compact; it blooms earlier than Damaohua, but the flowers are smaller, making it suitable for close planting on plains. (1) Pruning Damaohua: Damaohua grows in a grape-like form, with a crown spread of more than 1 m. Old flowering bushes with long branches should be heavily pruned, long branches cut back, short branches thinned, combining cutting back and thinning; vigorous flowering bushes should be mainly cut back to promote branching and accelerate crown expansion. This variety should be pruned into a natural shape or other shapes according to the growing site conditions, heavily pruning water sprouts and overly dense branches so that they are distributed evenly and reasonably. (2) Pruning Jizhuahua: Jizhuahua mainly grows in a three-dimensional form, with an obvious trunk, many branches that do not touch the ground, and a crown spread of about 80 cm. Pruning should remove the tops, clear the base cluster, open the inner canopy, and prune overly long branches, diseased and weak branches, dead branches, and downward-extending branches, so that the branches grow upright in clusters, the trunk is thick and strong, and the branches are evenly distributed. Generally, this variety should be pruned into an umbrella shape, which provides good ventilation and light penetration, more new branches, and more flower buds.

2. Prune according to flower age

(1) Young age stage: Generally, honeysuckle is in the young age stage from planting to the fourth year. During this period, heavy pruning and shaping can be carried out to establish its form. The specific method is to cut off the upper part of the honeysuckle branch at a height of 50 cm to promote rapid sprouting and growth of lateral buds, cut off downward-growing branches every year, and prune water sprouts into a reasonable plant shape according to the variety.

(2) Full flowering stage: The full flowering stage of honeysuckle is 4-20 years. During this period, weak branches and dense branches should be heavily pruned, while two-year-old branches and strong branches should be lightly pruned. At the same time, implement the four keeps and four cuts. The four keeps are strong buds, plump buds, upper branch buds, and upward branches; the four cuts are cutting downward branches, lower buds, weak branches, and thin small buds, and removing sprouts emerging from the base to reduce nutrient consumption.

(3) Aging stage: The characteristics of aging honeysuckle are sparse leaves, pale color, many old dead branches, thin flowers, and a shrunken, reduced crown. At this time, all dead branches should be cut off, diseased branches heavily pruned, weak branches lightly pruned, and strong branches not pruned.

3. Pruning time

Generally, pruning is done 4 times each year, namely: (1) Spring pruning, carried out in early June after the first crop of flowers is harvested, mainly by removing the top at 40 cm of the main trunk. (2) Summer pruning, carried out in late July after the second crop of flowers is harvested, mainly by cutting off the tips of vegetative lateral branches, with light pruning as the main method. (3) Autumn pruning, carried out in early August after the third crop of flowers is harvested to cut autumn shoots, with light pruning as the main method. (4) Winter pruning, after the last crop of flowers is harvested, wait until the nutrients in the vines return to the main branches and root system, then pruning can be carried out from December to February of the following year.