Honeyberry bushes sold commercially typically grow from 3 – 8 feet tall, with oblong berries ½ – 1 inch or more in length, depending on the cultivar. A member of the honeysuckle family, the honeyberry shrub (Lonicera caerulea) grows circumpolar in the northern hemisphere.

Are honey berries worth growing?

Besides providing fruity goodness early in the season, honeyberries also pack a nutritional punch that make them well worth seeking out or even growing yourself. Blue Fruit Farms produces up to 200 pounds of honeyberries per year.

Do honeyberry bushes spread?

One of the advantages of Honeyberries is that they can grow even in clay soil in wildness. They grow well in most soils, but the ideal environment would be loose and drained well fertilized with humus soil because the root system spreads close to the surface.

How far apart do you plant honeyberry bushes?

Space plants 4 to 6 feet (1.5 to 2 m.)apart in a sunny location and plant them at the depth they were originally planted or deeper in amended garden beds. Ensure that an unrelated variety of honeyberry is nearby for cross pollination.

Do honey berries spread?

Space Between Plants Depending on the variety you choose, the spacing may vary. As a general rule, most honeyberry plants naturally grow (or can be maintained with pruning) within a 4-foot range, both tall and wide. Use the honeyberry plant’s mature width as your guide for spacing between plants.

Are Honeyberries Evergreen?

This plant is deciduous so it will lose all its leaves in autumn, then fresh new foliage appears again each spring.

How fast do Honeyberry plants grow?

Honeyberries produce fruit on year-old wood, so it is possible to see a couple berries the year following propagation, but the plants need 3-4 years in the ground to grow to sufficient size to produce any significant amount of fruit, and reach maturity at 5-7 years.

Can Honeyberry grow in shade?

Honeyberries grow best in locations that receive a half day of sun, preferably in the morning. They grow well in partial shade along a woodland edge.

How deep do Honeyberry roots grow?

Honeyberries are shallow-rooted, with the majority of their roots in the top 5-7 inches of soil. Weeding and cultivating the topsoil around their base can damage their roots, and they can be stunted by over-competition with weeds.

Do you prune Honeyberry bushes?

Honeyberries, or Haskap berries, are fairly easy to grow and don’t require much pruning. Honeyberries should also be pruned when they’re dormant in late winter. … Once your honeyberry bush is 4-5 years old, you can start pruning it annually to encourage better fruit production.

Article first time published on

How do you grow a Honeyberry plant?

  1. Give your plant plenty of sun. Honeyberry plants prefer full sun but will tolerate partial shade. …
  2. Water your plant sparingly. Honeyberries need well-draining soil to thrive. …
  3. Prune your plant. …
  4. Fertilize once yearly. …
  5. Protect your plant from frost.

How fast do Haskaps grow?

It is a cool season fruiting shrub with early flowers which when pollinated mature into fruit mid to late June, making it one of the earliest fruiting berry plants. Berries are produced on one year old woody stems, by year 3 you should be able to harvest. After year 5 you should be yielding 7-10 lbs.

How do you take care of a Honeyberry plant?

  1. Miscellaneous ●
  2. Well-drained soil with compost dug in. …
  3. Honeyberries grow best in locations that receive half a day of sun, preferably in the morning. …
  4. Honeyberries can tolerate cold to -40C (-40F), so they are among the most cold-hardy small fruits you can grow.

Can you grow Honeyberries in pots?

Honeyberry bushes produce a 3- to 5-foot (1 to 1.5 m.) tall shrub, which is ideal for container growing. Young plants can be purchased in 3-gallon (11.5 L.) pots and grown on for a couple of years before they need to be repotted.

What is the sweetest Honeyberry?

Aurora appears to be, by far, the sweetest and most liked out of the older honeyberry varieties available in North America.

How close do Haskaps need to be to pollinate?

It also depends upon the bee population in the area. Field growers maintain 8-10 feet inter-row distance and 3-4 feet between plants within rows. We strongly advise growers to incorporate their own ideas and experience with other cross-pollinated fruit crops when planning a haskap orchard.

How far apart should I plant Haskaps?

Commercially planted and mechanically harvested Haskap are planted three feet apart to make a ‘wall’ that the harvester moves through. Home gardeners don’t need to have Haskap this close together, so four to five feet apart will be fine.

What is a Honeyberry Bush?

Honeyberries, also known as Haskaps, are stately medium-sized shrubs with delicious blue berries. We offer two named varieties are late bloomers and are bred for sweetness, bigger fruit size, and pollination compatibility – “Beauty” and the “Beast”.

Can honeysuckle pollinate Honeyberry?

The common honeysuckle vine we see growing, Lonicera periclymenum, should cross pollinate and that might change the flavor of the hapsak / honeyberry fruits from better to worse or not at all. It also may make the honeysuckle climbing vines little red fruit more palatable for Humans and wildlife.

Do Honeyberries need Ericaceous?

This new fruit is an edible Honeysuckle! The fruit are very similar to Blueberries but do not need acid /ericaceous soil. They are extremely hardy , coming originally from Siberia and will also tolerate drought!

What pollinates Honeyberries?

Honeyberry flowers are bee-pollinated, and with their early-season blooms, they provide bee pollinators a much-needed source of nectar. Bumblebees, with their longer proboscis, are great pollinators.

Do Haskaps need pruning?

Pruning should be undertaken in late winter or early spring. You should mainly thin out older branches when the bush gets too dense. Never remove more that 25% of a bush in any year. Haskap does not sucker so you won’t have to worry about that.

Will blueberries and Honeyberries cross pollinate?

Like blueberries, the fruits of honeyberries are rich in antioxidants, minerals (especially potassium) and health-supporting amino acids. … These early season bloomers (mid to late April in Wisconsin) are primarily pollinated by wind, but need cross pollination with a compatible second cultivar in order to produce fruit.

When should I plant Haskaps?

We often get inquiries from the growers on which is the best time of the year to plant haskap in the field. There are two preferred options: actively growing plants in spring (early May to end of June), and dormant plants in fall (early September until six weeks before the first hard frost).

When should I pick my Haskaps?

Haskap Harvest Berries are ready to be picked by mid to late June. These berries will look ripe 1-2 weeks before they are truly ready to be eaten.

How do you prune a honey berry?

  1. Every 2 to 3 years (in early spring before growth begins), remove damaged, dead, and diseased wood.
  2. Aim to leave 4 to 6 of the most healthy and vigorous older stems and a few strong new shoots.

Are Honeyberries deciduous?

Lonicera caerulea, or honeyberry, is a member of the Caprifoliaceae, or honeysuckle family. … Honeyberry is a deciduous shrub growing to 3 to 8 feet tall and wide, depending on the cultivar.