Honeysuckle in containers

Hi,

Rank amateur here, looking for a bit of help.

I've got a southwest-facing balcony, about 20 ft by 8 ft, which I'm looking to populate with something that'll climb all over the railing (one of the 20 ft lengths.) After a visit to the local garden centre I came away with four honeysuckle plants (L. Japonica "Princess Kate" - it was the only evergreen variety they had four of!), and four half-barrel planters, which I have now put on the balcony, filled with "Levingtons Multi Purpose compost with added John Innes" (as recommended by the very helpful chap there.)

Each barrel took just over a bag and a half of compost, so about 80 litres in each, supporting one single plant. I tried something similar a couple of years ago with Clematis in (much) smaller pots, which didn't work at all, I'm pretty sure down to pot size, so this is "take two."

My questions:

- should these pots be big enough to support plenty of growth - enough for each plant to cover about a 6 ft section of the railing?

- I'll keep moist (in the absence of rain) and feed monthly. Is that all I need to worry about in terms of nutrients?

- I'm planning on training new growth along the railing every couple of weeks, using twist-ties. Or would I be better off just leaving it to it?

- the plants are at one edge of each barrel, nearest the railing. At some point I'd like to put some bedding plants in the rest of the barrel. Is that advisable, or would it crowd the honeysuckle? Anything in particular that'd be appropriate here?

- anything else I should know / anything I've already done horrendously wrong?

Cheers...

 

I'd be interested to know too if Honeysuckle would be ok in a container?

 

I have a honeysuckle in a deep - but relatively narrow container. It didn't flower in its first year, but this year it is growing rapidly and I am hoping that it will flower!

 

I had honeysuckle in a much, much smaller container than described here, for several years. It did fine, and last year was finally released into open ground.

 

I'd let a few shoots climb as high as possible (wont take long), and then carefully unwind them, and then attached them horizontally. That will stimulate them to produce side shots that will aim upwards. No matter what, don't expect it to cover the railings very quickly. Honeysuckle isn't as fast as some climbers.

 

Evergreen honeysuckle doesn't tend to give a thick 'evergreen' covering; in my experience, although described as 'evergreen', it is a sparse, 'thin', covering which, come Springtime, then fills out again into thicker coverage.

I have a couple of honeysuckles in pots (not evergreen varieties though) and they are doing great!

 

Me to Love them in pots.