Lonicera nitida Hedge Shrubby Honeysuckle

From £5.99
In Stock
This is a dense, bushy, fast-growing evergreen and a very popular choice for those who want a medium height evergreen hedge, which is easy to trim and maintain.

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Root types explained.

  • Bare root

    Field grown, bare roots are young plants that are only planted when they are dormant, from autumn to spring. We lift bare root plants and despatch them during the season but they can be pre-ordered in summer. As they are cheaper to grow, they are one of our most affordable hedge planting options.

  • Pot grown

    Pot grown plants can be planted year round and make a convenient option. They come in a wide range of sizes, from 10cm to 2.5m so they're suitable for the majority of planting requirements.

  • Root ball

    Also field grown, root ball plants are scooped out of the ground using machinery to keep their root system intact and wrapped in bio-degradable, hessian sacks. They are mature plants that provide dense coverage very early on, ideal for when you need a thick hedge quickly.

  • Instant

    Grown in troughs or bags that measure 50cm-1 metre in length and carefully clipped during the growing season. Our instant hedging troughs create a dramatic, instant hedge effect.

X

20 - 30cm

2L Pot

£5.99
X

20 - 30cm

2L Pot

£5.99
£5.99

Metres of Hedging
Covered

Hedge length (metres)

Number of Plants
(5 Per Metre Recommended)

No. Plants (5 per metre)

£5.99

X

30 - 50cm

5L Pot

£14.99
X

30 - 50cm

5L Pot

£14.99
£14.99

Metres of Hedging
Covered

Hedge length (metres)

Number of Plants
(3 Per Metre Recommended)

No. Plants (3 per metre)

£14.99

Available from June 2025

Key Features

  • EVERGREEN
  • FAST GROWING
  • HAS BERRIES
  • HAS FLOWERS (White)

Description

Lonicera nitida — which also goes by a few names like Shrubby or Evergreen Honeysuckle, Wilson's Honeysuckle, and Box Honeysuckle— hails from China, but this adaptable evergreen has become a popular choice in the UK for medium-height hedges. Known for its tightly packed tiny leaves on long, supple stems, Lonicera nitida forms an exceptionally dense and neat hedge, making it ideal for formal garden designs.


Springtime brings scented, off-white flowers that transition into attractive purple-blue berries in the autumn, providing both colourful appeal and a food source for wildlife. Shrubby Honeysuckle hedges have a very fast growth rate of up to 60cm per year and can reach up to 3 meters in height. Its ease of maintenance and robust nature make it a gardener's favourite for privacy hedging screens and decorative hedges.


Lonicera nitida thrives in a range of light conditions, from full sun to partial shade, and is suited to most soil types, except overly wet grounds. It's a fantastic choice for topiary enthusiasts thanks to its fast growth and high tolerance for clipping, so you can be sure that any creative garden features crafted from Shrubby Honeysuckle can be maintained with ease. Its ability to be shaped into various forms makes it a practical substitute for more traditional topiary plants like Box.


Bare-root Lonicera nitida is available from November to April, and you can also find it in pot-grown varieties all year round.*  Find out more about root types with our guide or discover our hedge planting tips here.


*Bare-root and root-ball stock are subject to availability and may change, but are generally available from autumn through to spring.

Lonicera nitida Hedge Plants Description Lonicera nitida, often referred to as shrubby or evergreen honeysuckle, is a fast-growing, hardy evergreen hedge. It is a popular choice of hedge plant for a medium height evergreen hedge (up to about 3m). Its densely packed leaves, borne on long stems are tiny, so it forms a very dense hedge. Lonicera nitida is very easy to trim and has a high tolerance of clipping, which makes it ideal as a neat, formal hedge. In spring, it sometimes produces small, scented off-white flowers with purple-blue berries developing in the autumn, particularly followng a good summer. Lonicera nitida is a very common hedging plant despite few people knowing its name - we hope our photograph helps to make it recognisable. It can also be referred to as Box Honeysuckle or Wilson's Honeysuckle. Due to its fast growth rate, tiny leaves on supple stems and ease of trimming, Lonicera nitida is actuallly a very good plant for creating topiary shapes. However for general hedge trimming, it is best trimmed twice yearly, once in early summer at the height of its growing phase and then in autumn as a final trim for the year to keep it looking tip-top through winter. Lonicera nitida is suitable for sunny or partially shaded positions even tolerating deeper shade on occasion. It will grow well in most soil types except overly wet soils, but doesn't do well in very windy sites or exposed seaside gardens. Don't let challenging planting conditions deter your gardening goals though; we supply a huge range of hedging plants for shade and hedging for exposed sites. View also our entire range of evergreen hedging for additional options that provide year-round interest. Lonicera (Lonicera nitida) is a popular substitute for Box hedging plants for its ability to be trimmed into a variety of shapes and its resistance to most diseases including the blight that can affect Box. We have a section dedicated to Box Hedging Alternatives to view our suggested hedging plants. Cell grown, pot grown and instant hedging plants are available all year round. Bare roots are only available from November to late April/early May. The wonderful green foliage of this species enhance and offset colourful aspects of other plants when planted together. See also our extensive range of hedging with colourful foliagefor ideas on companion planting for lovely Lonicera.

Vital Plant Information

Common Name: Lonicera nitida
Latin Name: Shrubby Honeysuckle
Evergeen: Yes
Has Berries: Yes
Flowering: Yes
Height (Grows to): 3m
Height (at dispatch): 160/180cm
Berry Colour: Purple
Fragrant: No
Animal Friendly: Yes

Reviews

Plant Guarantee

Hedges Direct always supplies quality plants, however we know that sometimes plants have a mind of their own. With the Hedges Direct Green Guarantee, we've got you covered. Our 12-month guarantee is our 100% promise to you, that you can buy with complete confidence, that if any plants fail within 12 months, we will replace them when the guarantee conditions are met.

  • Step 1

    Root Grow & Fertiliser

    Ensure you buy root grow and fretiliser with your plants at the time of purchase

  • Step 2

    Prepare Your Planting Area

    Make sure your planting area is in good condition and suitable for planting

  • Step 3

    Plant & Feed

    Plant with root grow & the second feed. Support plants if necessary. Water regularly

Pruning Advice

To maintain the formal appearance of your Lonicera nitida hedge, you will need to keep its shape with regular clipping through the growing season. 

If left to grow, the plant will develop long shoots which will tend to arch and then flop fairly quickly as they gain height and length. However, with its small-leaved habit and delicate stems, trimming back even from this point is not a major task.

 

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