What's this and how do I prune it? Pics...

[picklemepopcorn]

Hi,

The builders planted two of these climbers against a trellis. Tiny white flowers in spring, then tiny blackish berries. Leaves all year round. They are of no merit, it seems to me, but blackbirds nest in them so I've kept them.

They are thugs, and take up a lot of room as they cling to anything they can and smother it. My garden is tiny!

Underneath is a mess of bare twigs, but all entwined so not easy to see where to trim.

Any advice?

I think it is honeysuckle... you could cut it right back and it would come back! We've got it in our front garden! Cut it down to the flower and it's grown up again!

I could be wrong though!

Thank you! I'll see whether anyone else has a punt. I might take one down this year, then take the other down when this one has recovered a bit.

It's not got any scent to speak of.

Can you take a photo of any buds or flowers?

Could be solanum or potato vine?

@YouBoggleMyMind in the middle pic, bottom right hand corner, there's a spray of flower buds. They've just started now- a bit earlier than usual.

Could be - the photos online make it look so attractive,,,!

It's not a honeysuckle. All the honeysuckles have opposite leaves, ie the leaves appear in pairs, one each side of the stem. These leaves are alternate. The Solanum is a possibility, or one of the jasmines. Solanum, I think - google Solanum jasminoides and look at the leaves.

Only sensible way to prune that is to unwind the whole lot, prune out all the dead stuff from underneath, then fasten up the live stuff.

Or take one out, as you suggest, then when it regrows, keep it at a few strands so you can cut out the dead stuff each year. Or replace it with something more biddable. The trouble with gardening is that in the early stages you plant something enthusiastic which provides almost immediate effect (which is what the builders will have done), then you very soon see that it's too vigorous for the space. You then spend a few years desperately trying to prune it to size, before finally accepting that you need to take it out completely. I've got an evergreen honeysuckle that has climbed into 4 trees, and has a trunk 20cm in diameter.

If you do take it out, avoid nesting season, nominally end Mar to end Aug, but likely to be starting early this year because of the warm weather. It's an offence deliberately or recklessly to disturb a nest that is being used or being built - the "recklessly" covers cutting down something without having a very good inspection to make sure there's no nesting activity.

I think I need to get out there 5his afternoon, pandiculation! The blackbirds were eyeing up the garden a couple of days ago.

And yes, I think it's a badly maintained solanum. It will be better going forward!

I think it's a jasmine, I have one and it's very similar if not identical. There are a number of different types of jasmine, but I'm afraid I don't know which one I have.

It's gone! Well, for the moment. I've discovered another 4 square meters of garden. The dog is well impressed! It will clearly reshoot and I'll keep it under control this time.