By Scol
West Midlands,
United Kingdom 
Last summer i bought a small honeysuckle japonica repens and planted it in a container against a wall with a trellis to climb (container size 11 inch diam 8 inch deep). It grew very fast but its really spindly and since the autumn almost all the leaves have fallen off. Is this normal or does it not like being in a container? Should i cut it right back? I seem to have a talent for killing things off :-(
On plant
honeysuckle japonica repens
8 Mar, 2010
Container's not big enough for one thing, and this cultivar is listed as "semi evergreen" which usually means, in a bad winter, most of the leaves will fall off. Its probably spindly because of the root restriction, would do better in the ground, but a pot at least 2 feet deep by 18 across would help if you can't put it in the ground. (Ultimate height of this plant is 15 feet - needs a lot of root room to achieve that).
8 Mar, 2010