Overgrown garden - mad honeysuckle

JuliusCaesar

Ok, so 4 years now and my partner is now my husband. He's been living and working in England, I've been living and working in Dublin. His huge garden (20m x 60m - and that's the back;) there's also a side garden and the front) has been neglected since before he moved in, about 10 years ago. I've been working away on it whenever I visit, as he has no interest. I've just about established control of most of the brambles by spraying Roundup. But I've discovered that the thing strangling the orchard (2 plum trees, 1 cherry, 1 pear) is honeysuckle. Roundup doesn't seem to work too well, and the base branches are thicker than the tip of my thumb to the tip of my forefinger. I'm not sure how much I can remove, and it seems to root wherever it touches the ground. At this stage I don't care about killing it off. I need to have a tidy garden by next April so we can sell the house for a decent price and move to Ireland. Any suggestions? Do little bits of honeysuckle root if I don't carry them all off?

looksee

Honeysuckle can be a thug in the garden, but it should be possible to get rid of it. No it will not root from bits - not usually anyway. Not sure why Roundup hasn't worked on it, maybe it is too big at this stage - I am not sure how big your measurement suggests, what would it be approx in inches or centimeters? Can you find the main root? Suggest you saw through the main stem then paint the fresh cut on the stump with roundup. Try not to cut the tree or get roundup on the tree. Then cut maybe a foot further up and prise off the piece and continue cutting and unwinding till you have all the stems removed.

Any smaller bits that have rooted by contact with the soil should be killable with roundup, but this is not the time of year for it, there needs to be strong leafy growth for it to work. Or you can dig them up. I have not had honeysuckle grow from bits of root left in the ground, but that is not to say it is not possible.

JuliusCaesar

It’s huge and entwined with roses both upright and bush. I’ve found what I think is the main stem. It’s bigger than I could hold between thumb and forefinger. So off to get a saw. Thanks!