Honeysuckle Bonsai Care Guide

Choose an outdoor location that provides full sun but can protected by partial shade in the summer, for the duration of the growing season. Honeysuckle bonsai trees are hardy but should be protected from frost during winter. If you expect consistent freezing weather consider moving it to a frost-free greenhouse, conservatory or providing insulation for the pot.

Across the growing season keep your honeysuckle bonsai watered regularly. Do not let the soil dry out. During winter, its essential to keep the soil mix just moist. 

Every two weeks apply a general fertiliser to your honeysuckle bonsai across the spring and summer. 

Pruning your bonsai is important not only to create or maintain an aesthetic style but to also ensure optimal health. New shoots require continually pinching out during the growing season. Honeysuckle heals fast from cuts and hard pruning is ideally done in the summer months. Cutting back to the main trunk is an option when deemed necessary. 

Honeysuckle can be wired but there is no real need as its training can all be handled through pruning. If you are to wire a branch having allowed a bud to grow out unchecked, we recommend using wires of a thickness that matches the thickness of the branch: if the wire you choose is too thick you will damage the bark. If it is too thin, it won’t be effective.

Repotting your tree is an important way to provide a fresh and suitable soil mix and ensure appropriate root health. Repot your Honeysuckle bonsai every other year at the start of spring. 

Trees that are ready for repotting will require root pruning, a suitable new pot and appropriate soil mix.

When repotting, do not cut back the root mass by a large amount, and choose a well-draining soil mix that has a neutral or slightly higher PH value of 5-6 but not over 7. We tend to use a mixture of different speciality bonsai soils on our trees. Every species is different so please contact us for free soil-mix advice or to take advantage of our repotting service.