Wild honeysuckle

[Cornettoninja]

I’ve spent the last couple of summers walking past the most beautifully fragrant honeysuckle growing on the side of a path on a flood plain.

I’m really tempted to try and take a cutting and see if I can get my own plant started in a large pot in my garden or maybe plant it in an empty corner I have but I am not blessed with green fingers.

Can anyone tell me if this is 1.) even possible to do 2.) the best way to go about it and 3.) a horrible idea and it’s likely some sort of horribly invasive plant like knotweed and generations of neighbours will curse me

www.gardenersworld.com/how-to/how-to-take-cuttings-from-honeysuckle/

www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/trees-woods-and-wildlife/plants/wild-flowers/honeysuckle/

Thanks. I don’t subscribe to gardeners world but I did have a quick google and can’t really pick out whether it’s a good idea to take cuttings from wild plants generally speaking.

If you're not particularly experienced with gardening then you'll have a much better chance if you buy one in a pot that's already established and plant that in your garden.

The native yellow wild honeysuckle is called Lonicera periclymenum and you can buy that, or you can choose one of the cultivated varieties, which come in all sorts of colours, that'll have that name plus a third name like Serotina or Scentsation.

They are wonderful plants, I hope you find something you like!

There is loads of wild honeysuckle growing in the woods near us. You'll be able to find lots of little ones growing that I'm sure you could take one.

The honeysuckle you are passing might not be a native species though, it's possible it's a garden escapee or has been planted, or seeded by a bird eating the berries.

It's worth having a go at trying to grow from cuttings, it's not particularly difficult to do as long as you are attentive to its progress and keep a close eye on the dampness of the soil in the pots. If it doesn't work out, you could always take a photo of it in full flower and use that to track down ready grown examples?

A lot of climbing honeysuckles are vigorous but they aren't invasive, they're easily cut back and don't cause any damage, so it could be a lot worse!

Thank you! I’m going to give it a bash and see how I get on and buy one if it all goes wrong

I think I was mostly worrying about doing some damage or introducing a pest into the garden and ending up with problems but as no one has posted horrified at the idea I’m very reassured. Thank you all

I have a serotina honeysuckle.
I don’t know if the wild ones are different but I feel a bit mislead by mine!
They are supposed to be very fast growing but mine took 5 years to flower!!
The flowers are gorgeous though and smell fantastic!

I would be really careful. The one in my garden is the bane of my life. It escaped from next door. He got fed up of how invasive it was and thought he'd got rid of it, but unbeknown to both of us it had got into mine under the fence and grown through a load of bushes all along the border. It nearly killed a few shrubs as it grew faster than I could cut it back.

I think the one in my garden is a lonicera japonica. After googling it seems that in some countries it's classed as invasive because it does tend to outcompete other plants.

I can't get rid of the one in my garden, try as I might. The root ball is under the fence against the fence post. I just can't get at it to dig it out.

Lonicera henryii is a bit of a thug as well. But as it isn't scented and is very obviously evergreen, there's not much chance of introducing it by mistake.

Ah - noted. I think I’ll keep this experiment contained in its own pot then. Thank you.