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Carolina Gardening

Japanese Honeysuckle

computergardener

15 years ago

As a kid growing up, I have such fond memories of Honeysuckle plants. I have looked into buying one called Japanese Honeysuckle, but a quick Google search shows the plant as invasive. I can not tell from the search if the plant is invasive due to seeds floating around and little seedling popping up everywhere in the yard or if once establish the plant just grows wild and I have to prune it 3-4 times a year or it takes over. Can anyone share their experience? I live in Zone 7, North Raleigh.

Also, if it grows up the side of a lattice wall, will it destroy the lattice over time? The lattice wall is wood.

Thanks in advance...

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Comments (6)

tamelask
15 years ago
Please, DON'T!!! It is one of the very worst invasives we have! It spreads by runners, seed and any other means it can. It won't destroy your trellis unless it just gets so heavy it knocks it over, which is likely after a while. It doesn't have suckers; it climbs by twining. If you're hankering the scent, find some by a roadside and pick a bouquet every now & again to enjoy it indoors, but don't grow it, please.

Some of the other honeysuckles we have are not invasive, much more manageable and smell just as nice- like goldflame honeysuckle, which is the icon on the carolina page. Coral honeysuckle isn't fragrant, but is stunningly pretty and is a native. They both bloom on and off most of the summer well into fall.
mbuckmaster
15 years ago
First off, kudos to you for researching and asking in here before planting. That sort of conscientious gardening doesn't seem to be as common these days. To answer your question--if you cherish your garden even a little bit, don't plant this horrible exotic menace! It spreads by runners, literally creating an underground carpet that can sprout even through grass. It laughs at pruning!..."3-4 times a year" will quickly turn into 3-4 times a month. If this wasn't bad enough, it also produces small fruits the birds eat and disperse all over the place. It is truly a tenacious SOB that will never, ever die if you plant it and give it half a year to establish.

To get the fragrance but not the invasiveness, try the native goldflame honeysuckle (lonicera x. heckrottii). Niche Gardens has it in Chapel Hill for a reasonable price (www.nichegardens.com; they also mail order). Goldflame isn't quite as strong as japanese; but you can always go to your local woodland edge to smell that invasive monstrosity! It certainly has no place in a garden.

Any honeysuckle twines up through lattice and should last as long as the lattice itself. Best wishes for your fragrant garden!

Here is a link that might be useful: Japanese Honeysuckle
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I suppose the debate surrounds "relative effectiveness during dormant periods", and what is/isn't dormant. I don't know that I would have any recommendations for glyphosate treatments on dormant deciduous plants during winter months - haven't tried that. christie is looking to eliminate Japanese Honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica), which is an evergreen vine at her location, as it is here in the Ohio River valley. The rate at which it is translocated through the plant will be different, depending on the biological activity of that plant. The warmer the weather is (and the warmer the soil is), the more activity and thus the rate of translocation. The treatments performed in Louisville's parks vary, depending on what part of the plant is being treated. The recommendations pertain to using 44% glyphosate concentrate as the source of active ingredient. Foliar application calls for 2% concentrate and 98% water, with surfactant. Application to cut stems calls for 25% concentrate and 75% water. Temps above 40F (meaning overnight, not just daytime) is the benchmark for winter work. I believe the previous comments are not passing judgment on effectiveness by the rapidity at which death is observed.
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You may be stuck pulling the stuff up. Roundup is a systemic herbicide - the chemical is taken in through the leaves, and not as likely to be absorbed by a woody stem of a defoliated plant that is dormant. Something like Orthos brush-b-gone is more for woody plants, but in my experience the Ortho works better on honeysuckle than round-up. With the coralberry dormant it may be okay to use round-up as there are no leaves to absorb the chemical, however I am not familiar enough with coralberry to know how soft the stems are. Soft stems can absorb the chemical. I've got to believe, due to it's family, that they are fairly soft and new growth will stand a chance of absorbing poison. Not really worth the risk. Honeysuckle is not that bad to pull up, really, not in comparison to other invasives anyway. That's just my opinion, though, maybe because I've pulled up miles of the stuff in my life. It's still a chore and a half, probably take a couple of seasons, but coralberry is worth saving. I'm in my second season of battle with jh which has run over a bunch of natural ferns and unfortunately there is no easy way about it.
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Like most invasive species, it's all a matter of location, location, location!! Japanese honeysuckle is not an invasive species in the PNW (which shares a climate like much of the UK) and is commonly sold and grown, particularly L.j. 'Halliana' and L. j. 'Purpurea', which has a purple tint to the foliage and bicolored flowers. They have a wonderful fragrance when in bloom, especially in the evening, and attract hummingbirds. They also seem to attract aphids more than most other types of vining honeysuckle, which is not a plus :-) Considering the assortment of wonderful vining honeysuckles available that are NOT considered invasive, I see no reason to keep one in any area where this species IS considered invasive.
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Its an older stand that was here before I moved in, so we're not talking about a few vines running up a tree. There are hundreds of vines coming up all over the place like a sod. I spent around 8 hours this winter, cumulatively, working my way along the back property line pulling it by hand, and when I got to the other side it was just at another level, from the back of the property up to the street. Here's the epicenter of the vines, pic taken right before I got after some of it with a brush cutter. Now I want to spray all the runners and ground level vines. Theres also poison ivy, virginia creeper, wild grapes and who knows what else in there.
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rootdiggernc
15 years ago
Ditto what the others said... and wait till you see the native honeysuckles!! Goldflame is a beauty and smells nice. The color of the coral H. is so intense it's incredible and the hummers are all over it!!
thomis
15 years ago
I spend about $100 a year on sprays and WAY too much time trying to control the honeysuckle on my land. Sounds like fun eh? I hardly put a dent in it.
Bumblebeez SC Zone 7
15 years ago
I like honeysuckle too. Although I have several varieties, nothing compares to the japanese variety.

I have tons in the woods surrounding our yard so I do get to enjoy it, but I wouldn't plant it because it would make all the native plant people irate (and me too if it ever invaded the "yard"))

So, seek out other amazingly fragranced plants. I always have something at all times of the year that smells good and as much as possible, wafts.

Today, I admit the wild invasives in the woods are intoxicating, however, in the yard, as of today, roses are going strong and most Dianthus gratianopolis is still in bloom.
computergardener
Original Author
15 years ago
Thanks for all the comments. I think I will look for a Goldflame or Coral H variety to feed my fix.

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