Okay, why is my honeysuckle dying?

[katewitch]

It was planted this spring, everything around it is doing great. So was the honeysuckle, only now large chunks have died is it the heat? Are they way thristier than I thought? Any help to get them recovering if possible or at least stop it getting worse would be very much appreciated!

The soil does look rather dry around it, to be honest. Honeysuckle usually do lose all their leaves at the bottom and leave bare stems, with new growth from the top.

Has it flowered, or are there any signs of any flower buds on it?

@MustardRose no buds, I wasn't expecting it to flower this year as its only just getting established.

If it doesn't storm tonight I'll give it a drink...

Would you remove the dead bits in the hope of encouraging new growth?

Can you give it a relatively hard prune now, keep it watered when it's very dry, and it should be much improved next year.

I'd plant some ground cover around the base or put some mulch down.

They grow in woodlands in the wild so cool, damp soil is what they prefer

Mine took three years to establish itself to a point where I don’t need to keep watering it. They do seem quite thirsty!

Honeysuckle is prone to powdery mildew. All the more likely with the recent dry spell. A very long drink and some strategic pruning may well be in order.

Thanks, this is so helpful!

So by a hard prune, we basically mean cut all the dead bits off down to a few inches above ground level? (I'm new to outdoor gardening!)

I have some ground cover in the shed so will spread that this weekend hopefully!

At the moment it needs energy to grow new roots and it needs those leaves for photosynthesis to produce that energy. So I wouldn't prune it for the time being.

Give it plenty of water, and another pp's suggestion of using some mulch at the base is a good idea too.

I was only going to prune the fully dead bits? As you can see some of the strands(?) are fully dead and crispy...

I wouldn't bother pruning it, I'd just feed and water it and hope for the best. You haven't said what your watering and feeding regime is, so I am assuming for the moment that you haven't actually been doing much. It's quite important in a plant's first season that it doesn't dry out and has the nutrients available to enable it to grow new roots and top growth. Often the amount of rain falling isn't really sufficient for new plants. So if you haven't given it much, I would start doing this more regularly and see what happens. To start with I'd put a granular feed (like a rose & shrub feed) on the top of the surrounding soil and water it in, then a liquid feed in a watering can and give it a really good drink with that (not at the same time).

I'd also check the undersides of the leaves for pests like aphids, just in case, as often if a plant is struggling, pest attacks can leave it looking very unwell.

I absolutely would expect a honeysuckle to flower the same year it's planted, it's quite significant that it hasn't.