In praise of Lonicera Nitada

[sandy1000]

Why don't we see more of this plant. It is so dense that it is like shaving when using a hedge clipper. I feel that it is a labour of love. The rather unformed part on the lower right has just been hacked down to provide greater access, otherwise it as formed to perfection.

[tuppenced]

I grew up with it, Sandy, and couldn't agree more. If I have a complaint, it's the dark colour, but your pictures look more golden - very attractive as a backdrop. And it grows so fast from scratch, too!
Here's Neil Ramsey's brilliant use of it. What looks like a ground-level track is actually chest-high on top of on top of a substantial block-work wall. Lonicera provides all of the landscape you can see - dusted nicely with frost.


Picture: Garden Rail used without permission under the Fair Dealing terms of the Copyright Act. Subscribe to Garden Rail.

[philipy]

Actually, I thought it was used pretty widely?
Certainly I've used it to 'hide' sections of my own line, one way or another.
The 3ft high raised section running across the bottom of my garden has Lonicera growing under it and trained up both sides to form a cutting which hides the chain link fence behind the line and also acts as a back drop to the flower border in front ( plus hopefully if a derailment should ever occur, it will act as something of a safety net). On another section, the Lonicera has been trained to form a cutting and tunnel, I know this is not an original idea because I've seen references to it on this forum more than once. I'm pretty sure that Dave Pinnegar uses it on his line ( I think Becky refers to in her book).