Growing honeysuckle and climbing rose together

[Maggiethecat]

I have 5m of wall that I’d like to cover and bought and planted 2 David Austin Generous Gardener climbing rose.
I also bought, but not yet planted, some small evergreen honeysuckle plants thinking that both plants might grow together but have read that pruning the roses might be difficult if grown with the honeysuckle.

Would I be better off growing the roses along one section of the wall followed by the honeysuckle and try to keep them separate?

Is this going to look odd especially in the winter when the honeysuckle is in leaf but the roses are bare?

Maybe alternate them?

Yes they have completely different pruning techniques and if you need to re tie or adjust stems of your rose it will have honeysuckle twined around them. If you want to grow something through the rose, choose a group 3 Clematis, once of the viticella hybrids. You can prune them together, clear away the Clematis and see what you are doing with the rose. Let the rose establish for a couple of years first. Generous Gardener is a lovely choice.

I’m not a knowledgeable gardener myself, but the previous owners of the house we moved into a few years ago were. They planted honey suckle and jasmine together which seem to work well

Did think of clematis but wanted an evergreen and found some honeysuckle Halliana but clearly hadn’t thought it through!

Generous gardener is gorgeous! You won't want a Honeysuckle with it!

I've got this combination! Although I've separated them out a bit the Generous Gardener is about 2 metres from the honeysuckle, and I just let them mingle a bit where they meet. To be honest, that's probably a tad to close, but I like a slightly overpacked cottage style garden, and it really is a feast for the senses when they're both in bloom. I wouldn't plant them immediately next to each to other as it would be hard to prune and tie in the rose properly, which you need to do if you're going to get the maximum blooms from the rose. They both grow quite large, although in my experience the honeysuckle grows faster and bigger, so bear that in mind. The honeysuckle will start romping pretty quickly, whereas the rose took about 3 years to really hit its stride. I find when its comes to pruning I need to cut them back really quite hard so I don't end up with a tangled mess, and I do keep on top of it throughout the growing season, tying things in and giving things an odd snip through the year. You also have to be on top of feeding and watering them, as they're both quite hungry and thirsty plants, and the GG in particular can sulk a bit if under stress. But its one my favourite things in my garden, so if you're happy to do the work to look after them I'd thoroughly recommend it!

I wish I were brave enough to go for it but think I am too inexperienced.

I think I’m going to put the honeysuckle on the opposite fence where I have a jasmine and see how that goes.

Honestly, I promise its not that difficult! I didn't have a clue either when I planted them! You just need to know whether you're the sort of person that will do the various gardening jobs when required- I know not all gardeners are! 😂
If you sign up for the David Austin emails they're very good at telling you when to prune and feed your roses, and how to do it. And the IRIS app is great for everything else- you just type in what plants you have in the 'My Plants' section and it will give you a list of jobs month by month.

How I wish to be steady and organised in the garden!