Killing Buddleia Globosa?

When I moved into my new house three years ago, I inherited five neglected Buddleian Globosa (the ones with the orange pompoms). I finally got round to cutting them back last winter, from about 10 feet tall. I cut them down to about 3 feet; the stems were quite thick and woody.

After the winter, they've not come back at all - no signs of new growth whatever. I'm wondering whether the harsh winter has killed them, or the late frosts, or perhaps I was wrong to cut them back. Is it worth waiting maybe another year to see what happens? Should I cut them back further, to the ground? Or is there no hope and I just have to dig them out and start again?

Cheers
Richard

 

Richard - I don't know

But I remember on a program called the City Gardener a long time ago, we were told that the two most difficult urban plants to kill were Buddleia and brambles. So I would just leave them for a bit. But I wouldn't cut any more off.

 

I have heard that Buddleja globosa should not be pruned too hard, just trimmed after flowering - though I knew of someone who pruned their's by a third after the risk of frost without any ill-effects.

This site offers some specific advice about Buddleja globosa, and from what I make of it, the plant sounds pretty resilient and should recover from your efforts of last winter - indeed, at the end it says that if the Buddleja globosa is cut back hard it will recover within around a year's time.

http://www.gardenseeker.com/pruning/pruning_buddleja-globosa_buddleia.htm

 

We had two B. globosa and I used to cut back old growth quite hard every year with no ill effects. In fact when I finally decided they had to go it was a devil of a job to kill them and I had to use glyphosate on the emerging growth and then use a pickaxe on the stumps a couple of years later.

There is a slight chance that an unusually hard frost may have killed yours - as ours were grown from cuttings that were taken from a globosa that was killed by frost the year after I took the cuttings, however I'd suggest you hang on for a week or so as new growth may yet emerge.

 

Much joy - I had another look this afternoon, and new shoots are appearing at the bottom of the woody stumps of all 5 plants. I'm assuming I might as well cut away the dead tree arrangement above this, maybe leaving a foot or so?

Cheers
Richard