Prune and Repot - Lonicera nitida 'Elegant' [2]

As the buds began to grow on one of my Loniceras, I decided a repot into something more free draining would be needed to get the most growth out of the tree as I could. It went into my deciduous mix of 3 parts moler clay (cat litter) : to 1 part multi purpose compost.

The pot was cramed with fine, feeder roots - always a good sign - of which a good 50% were removed. Here are some before and after pictures.

Front 1 - before repot and prune

Front 2 - before repot and prune

Front 1 - After repot

Front 2 - after repot

To balance out the root removal, I gave it a good prune to direct growth in the places that it was required, and remove any unwanted, overly thick branchs too high on the trunks. During which, I uncovered an interesting trunk with taper and movement, but from an angle that would mean losing the smaller trunk.

Front 1 - after prune

Front 2 - after prune

 Front 3 - after prune

 Front 4 - after prune

In the end, I decided to keep the smaller trunk and see how it grows. I will probably end up taking it off, and sticking with Front 4. Here's a virtual of what I will be aiming for if I decide to lose the trunk.

Front 4 Virt