Lonicera nitida
Box-leaved honeysuckle
Common names: Shiny honeysuckle, Hedge honeysuckle
At a glance
- Light
- Partial shade
- Hardiness
- Hardy down to −15 °C
- Pruning
- May–Jun
- Flowering
- Apr–May
- Spacing
- 40 cm, rows 40 cm
- Water need
- Medium
Photo: User:SB_Johnny · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Source
This description was machine-translated.
Description
Lonicera nitida, known in German as Heckenmyrte, originates from western China and, despite its name, is not a myrtle but a member of the honeysuckle family, related to native hedge honeysuckles. Its tiny, shiny dark green leaves grow densely along thin, slightly drooping branches and resemble those of boxwood. It stays green in mild winters but loses part of its foliage in harsh ones. Unpruned, it grows 1.5 to 2.5 m tall. The small, cream-white flowers appear in April and May and have a delicate fragrance, though they are rarely seen in clipped hedges. It is planted as a low to medium hedge, a bed edging, or in ball and topiary shapes. It grows quickly, tolerates any pruning, and resprouts from old wood.
Care instructions
Plant the box-leaved honeysuckle in spring or autumn in a sunny to partly shaded spot with permeable, fresh soil. For a dense hedge, space the plants about 40 cm apart and cut back all shoots by one third right after planting so they branch from the base. Water regularly during the first year, and later during long dry periods, since it has shallow roots. Prune several times a year, otherwise it becomes sparse and bare from the inside. Waterlogging, drought, and cutting in full midday sun are the typical mistakes, while shade makes the growth looser. Expect to rejuvenate a hedge over the years with a vigorous hard cutback, as otherwise it becomes bare.
The care notes were machine-translated from German.
Garden year
FloweringApr–May
Soil & site
Soil pH
Soil type
well-drained, humus-rich, loamy, sandy
Boxleaf honeysuckle grows in any normal garden soil, whether loamy, sandy or humus-rich, as long as it is free-draining. It tolerates lime and copes equally well with slightly acidic to neutral soils. Waterlogging leads to root rot, so on heavy soils loosen the subsoil with sand or gravel. Because it is shallow-rooted, it needs an even water supply; a mulch of leaves or chipped bark helps with this.
Feeding
Medium feeder
Months
Apr, Jun
A regularly cut boxleaf honeysuckle produces a lot of new growth and welcomes feeding. In spring, scatter mature compost or horn shavings around the plants and work them in shallowly; after the first cut in June, repeat this once. After that, do not feed any more, so that the shoots ripen before winter. In a container, also give organic liquid feed in spring and early summer.
Pruning
Boxleaf honeysuckle grows quickly and needs two to three cuts a year. Make the first in May or June, once the spring growth has grown, with further light cuts following in high summer and up to early September. Cut the hedge somewhat narrower at the top than at the bottom, so that light reaches the base and snow slides off. If you cut only rarely, you get an unwieldy plant that goes bare from the inside. Rejuvenate old hedges in February with a hard cut back; check beforehand whether birds are nesting.
Overwintering
Boxleaf honeysuckle comes through normal winters outdoors down to about minus 15 degrees and usually stays green. In very cold winters or in windy, sunny places it loses leaves or the shoot tips freeze back, but in spring it shoots again from the wood. Shake heavy, wet snow off the branches, otherwise they break out. In a container, place the pot against a sheltered wall and wrap it in horticultural fleece.
Propagation
Methods
- Cuttings
- Layering
Boxleaf honeysuckle is very easy to propagate from cuttings. In summer or autumn, cut 10 to 15 cm long, semi-ripe pieces of shoot, remove the lower little leaves and insert them half their length into loose, sandy soil. In a bright, sheltered spot and with even moisture they usually root within a few weeks. Layering also succeeds easily, because overhanging branches can root by themselves on the ground. For a whole hedge, with a little patience you can raise many plants yourself this way.
For your garden
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