Buddleja "tree" in a pot

Yes, buddlejas can indeed be pruned and made to look tree-like! At least, on this particular experimental example, it can.

I feel that this is the more aesthetically pleasing form for buddlejas especially if you are growing them in small pots.

Leaf size and leaf internodes will reduce in size by pot constriction in combination with regular clipping so tree proportions and scale size can somewhat be attained.

This buddleja does produce purple flowers on long stalks just like one growing in the ground but the flowers are much smaller and more delicate looking.

In case you are wondering, this buddleja is about 8 years old. It started life as a rogue seedling growing in the ground right next to a raised bed planter - it had germinated from a seed which blew into our community garden back in 2015/16.

It grew into a 4ft bush and had to be cut down every spring until 2019 when it was finally dug up and put into a pot (well, the first container I had at hand) as it was causing access problems to the planter.

The buddleja was a single bare trunk about a third of the height when it was first potted up and has remained in the same container ever since.

It would be interesting to see if anyone else grows their buddleja like this.

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We have two Buddleja in the garden and both are grown as small trees. They are a very quick way to gain some height. Ours are probably around 3-3.5m tall. It does make deadheading more of a faff but you can get (in my view) a lovely architectural shape in such a relatively short time.

One is quite exposed to the wind and I did wonder if it would cope as they can be quite brittle. Ironically it’s usually been me breaking a branch pulling it down to deadhead (hence the long handled th8ngummies), autumn/winter gales it survives unscathed

I have one of those long handled pruning thingummies for deadheading which is easier than getting the ladders out.

 

I agree: the branches can be very brittle when woody, and be coarse and straight in their growth. The branches also die back a little when cut.

However, they can be manipulated somewhat when they are semi-green. Directional pruning is best done at this stage too.

 

I've seen B colvillei grown as a tree and mine is taking on that form also B macrostachya and B forrestii; I believe B cordata can form large trees although I keep mine as a shrub. Some of these flower on last years wood rather that this years growth.

 

I've just looked up pictures of the varieties of buddleja mentioned in your post, NigelJ. They're very interesting and large.

How do they respond to being kept pot bound?

 

That's a good question; I really don't know as I've never tried one in a pot.
Given the places I've seen B davidii I'm not surprised that it takes to a pot fairly well.

 

The common buddleia that seeds itself around used to grow in the cracks of the concrete walls of an old workshop which I worked in.

They seem to be able to put up with anything if its well drained, we were near a railway and I once heard that they spread around the country by seeding in the ballast of the tracks.
Not sure how true that was, but they do seem to be able to grow almost like Bonsai in the right conditions.

 

This is such a good idea! Thanks so much for sharing

 

I like it! It reminds me of bonsai trees, but on a larger scale.

 

I'm going to be controversial here [sorry!] and say that I really don't like that. I don't feel they're suited to that kind of growing. We're all different aren't we?
No reason for not growing them in pots, I have one that I've had in a pot for a few years, but I keep it pruned in the normal way. It'll need to go somewhere else soon though, as I need the pot for other things.
The species Buddleia will certainly grow anywhere, and I grow some B. davidii as a boundary 'hedge' in this garden. I cut the front right back, so that I get flowers lower down, and the back is left as screening. I can't reach those flowers easily for deadheading, but the birds sometimes eat the seeds, so it's a useful shrub in that sense.

I had a look at those ones you mentioned @NigelJ - very interesting, weeping habit the flowers have on some of the types. I like that.

 

Fair enough, fairygirl. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, afterall.

However, you will be pleased to know that I've set aside plants (the 3 multi trunks on the left) for shaping into the bushy form.




They are all 3 years old and made from cuttings taken from the parent plant shown in the opening post.

 

I'm starting SCUBA - the Stop Cruelty Upon Buddlejas Association.

I've been able to keep plants small by constricting them, but I've found this reduces their life expectancy. They live longer if knocked out, root pruned and put back in the same pot with some fresh compost and some fertiliser. I think you've done well to keep one alive for many years. Do you feed at all?

However, I see the opposite effect a lot. Plants I think are small in growth habit - small leaves, short internodes, low vigour - suddenly shoot up when planted out: the leaves get bigger, and they suddenly find their vigour.

As Nigel says, some species are trees, or almost so, naturally. Buddleja cordata subsp. cordata can grow in Mexico to 30 metres with a huge single trunk. We mostly grow the white-flowered subsp. tomentella in the UK, which is shruby. The one I do see around that becomes more like a tree is Buddleja colvilei.

 

How do you identify type? I took one out a couple of years ago and kept a sapling, it's in a pot. It's the slowest growing buddleia I've ever known! I cut it back to about 2 or 3 inches, and last year it grew about a foot - it had a couple of weak flowers. It's possibly just not happy in the pot, they do like to spread their feet don't they? But I have nowhere to plant it for the foreseeable.

 

@Mrs. B.

Sadly, I am not a botanist so couldn't tell you the specifics about identifying buddlejas but most plants in general are identified by their flowers and leaves.

Considering they can be seen growing out of brick walls and in crevices where a little dirt has collected, I am surprised your sapling is not doing much better. You must either have a very exotic species or there is something wrong with the nurturing aspect (watering, light, pests like aphids and vine weevils etc).

My own buddlejas belong to the davidii species. If left to grow unchecked even the potted up cuttings will send out 2ft+ long branches in a year.

 

@misterQ yeah I know, I've always just chopped them down and watched them grow! It's definitely nothing exotic, lol, the original one was one I found in the garden. It should do better this year, maybe I damaged a root without realising, who knows.