Buddleja
Sizeyuk1
Posts: 125
Moved house last year, lots of plants too big for thier place and too crowded, but a particular problem is the Buddleja, its like a small tree, thick 3' + trunk, huge top heavy crown, overall about 7' tall, I pruned it last year but it still got so heavy that we had to tie it to the concrete fency post as it was in danger of falling over. Can I cut into the main stem to shorten it to about 2', will any new growth come from this or will it die
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i had the same problem,so i got so fed up with it i chopped the trunk to about 2ft off the ground thinking i had killed it,it looked a bit naff for a while then lo and behold it started shooting like crazy and now its bigger than ever in just a year its twice the size so i also dont know what to do this year good luck
Thank you
, I hope mine does just as well as yours
Buddleias should be pruned in the Spring.
Chica, Congratulations on being brave - it worked didn't it?
Now, if I were you I'd reduce the new growth by a half to two-thirds at the moment, to prevent the roots being damaged by wind-rock in the autumn and winter winds. Then in the spring (late Feb, early March) cut everything back to a bud close to where you cut it back before. Completely remove any spindly growth.
When it starts to regrow a handful of rose fertiliser scattered around will be good for it.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
thank you dovefromabove,will do as you say its so nice that there is always someone on this foreham that know things that i dont
Thank you so much, this forum is a great place to get info.
Thank you - I've been gardening a long time and it's nice to share it
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Ours has been damaged by rain and wind and is badly bent down. CAn I prune it now as it looks a mess and is harming other plants ?
Yesterday-on another thread I said prune buddleia now as it has never harmed the ones I have done at this time-another poster-Paul above- says Spring--but it will do no harm in my opinion to cut it back now especially if it is damaging other plants
Buddleias are hard to kill-that is why you see them growing in all sorts of places
Ernie, You and I must have been gardening for so many years we know that things are not always set in stone. Ideally we prune buddleia in early Spring but if they are out of control and damaged other neighbouring plants, they should still survive a November prune. As you say, we see them growing in all sorts of places like railway embankments and even out of brick walls and gutters. Probably what is worse is being too timid with the pruning. Light pruning just caused a bushy top growth and a bare trunk.