I have a good sized rhododendron at the NE corner of the house near the down spout. Ever since the fence was built just in front of it, it's been difficult to access that house-fence corner to take care of things, and Japanese honey suckle managed to get a foothold and was allowed to go psycho. A few days ago, I dug up the underperforming macrophylla hydrangeas on the front side of the fence, and FINALLY got a good look at what was happening.
...OMG the entire top of the rhodo was completely covered by the honeysuckle and the honeysuckle was in full bloom -- meaning it had matured. The rhodo was wearing a honeysuckle hat that was weighing it down and depriving it of any sunlight. Even so, the rhodo had blossomed as well as it could, and the spent blooms were hanging in dried up limp brown rags that had become soggy in yesterday's rain, it was a sorry sight.
- Honeysuckle covered rhododendron
Once I got in there, I could see that some of the interior branches had died. And lower branches were becoming weak and spindly, growing in unnatural angles and directions in search of sunlight.
- I could see that the central branches had died
As I started cutting with loppers and lifting and yanking off the vines, the frangrance of the blooms were intoxicating. And I knew that these were the source of the nightly perfume that has been blowing in through the window for us to enjoy. I wavered and thought about "just getting rid of the worst of it".... Then told myself that the honeysuckle was beguiling me in an desperate attempt to self preservation. I grimly got hold of another overhanging mass and yanked... And discovered the truth of it.
- Honey suckle vine as thick or thicker than the rhodo branch it is wrapped around
It was a killer -- a strangler
- Honey suckle vine literally strangling the rhododendron
No mercy
I went to work, cutting, unwrapping (the tightly wrapped vines left marks on the rhodo), untangling and lifting off. I also pruned the dead rhodo branches, removed badly placed and directional branches, and used the cutoff dead branch to support and train one of the lower branches to fill in a glaring gap in the growth pattern.
The leaves are pale from the lack of the sun, so I'll give it about a week to recover, then give it a good dose of compost and organic acid lover fertilizer. Hopefully it will recover.
