Keeping Buddleja in check

Hi all

My Buddleja Davidii tree is massive. Really it is too big for its spot, but the wife won't let me move it and I must admit I like the fact that we've had loads more butterflies and moths about since we put it there.

I saw one in the local park yesterday that was a much more sensible size, but still in full bloom. How do we achieve that same look? I though that if I regularly chopped it back, it would be at the expense of the flowers, but that doesn't seem to the case in the local park.

Its too late for this year, but for next year what do I do? Do I just randomly hack it, or is there a proper way to cut them back without losing the flowers?

 

Sounds like you look after it better in your garden than where you saw it. You can prune it at the later end of spring to delay it's flowering and restrict it's growth-I know you can do that with verbascum so I don't see why it isn't worth a try with buddleias. I don't have them however-they are one of those plants I am not too keen on.

I had a bit of a fight on my hands with who ran my garden-I say MY garden because I won the fight lol. Not much of a prize when I am turning over clay soil in January-but that's where the peace and quiet is so I don't moan.................much.

 

I chopped it back to about 5 ft in early summer. About 3 weeks later it was back to about 10ft. I think someone must have nicked mine in the middle of the night and replaced it with another huge one, as it did grow back amazingly quickly. Perhaps it just has attitude. "I get knocked down, but I get up again, you're never gonna keep me down, I get knocked down, but I get up again, you're never gonna keep me down"

 

I would prune a buddleia in the spring time, when the buds were starting to move, and I would be very very brutal with it, as it flowers on the new growth.

I would if it was my plant at least reduce the height by half, and then half again the following year, but you can be brave and give it a real hair cut. Have a google, and see if the RHS or BBC gardening websites come up with anything!

Hope this Helps!

 

Mine is a small one (still) planted last autumn but I pruned it in early Spring, quite low to the ground. I think I need to do it more "artistically" as it looked a bit straggly though had masses of blooms.

Claire, I only say my garden on here. With OH it's our garden, although he does naff all work in it! Still, he does appreciate sitting on the patio looking at it

 

Buddlejas seem to be "bomb-proof" This is interesting as alegedly, during the war, they were know as "bomb plants". This was because they were among the first plants to sprout on recently demolished sites and folk wisdom had it that the seeds were inside the casing of the bombs when they burst.

Sadly, the truth is more prosaic, they just happen to colonise rough ground first. They aslo come up between paving, in gravel, in brickwork, in fact, anywhere the seeds can find a few grains of organic material and a toe-hold. Witness the forests of Buddleja along suburban raliway tracks.
When it comes to cutting them back you can be as brutal as you like. I tend to chop them back at least twice a year and they don't appear to suffer.

Claire, you say you're not too keen on them but there is a huge variety of types including Black Knight, which is really dark, Alba which is wonderfully white and crisp, Alternifolia or weeping butterfly bush and Globosa which has amazing orange pompoms! Also, It's the main plant in the garden which is continually covered with butterflies and bees.

enjoy your Buddleja!:gnthb: Chris

 

Sorry to hijack the thread slightly, but which of these would suit my "problem area"? Dry in summer, wet in winter and dappled shade? I was going to put in a bog standard buddleia but I do like the idea of a slightly different one?

 

They prefer a sunny spot Aaron, but dappled shade may just reduce the amount of flowers. It will help if you can improve the drainage and get some organic material into the ground if it's a bit poor. Most Buddlejas seem to like the same conditions so take your pick.

Chris

 

Mine is under the canopy of a much larger tree, so is in shade for most of the day until late afternoon. It is in quite possibly my worst patch of ground, and has to compete with the Leylandii hedge for water and nutrients. The patch of ground it is in tends to get compacted all the time at the surface. Yet it thrives there, so I don't think they're fussy. Near us there is a riverside walk along what used to be industrial territory. There are loads growing and thriving down there even though during very wet spells their roots must spend much of their time waterlogged. They're thriving too.

 

I have no doubt they are very beautiful, and will check them out-I live in an ex-mining area-old train tracks, filled in colliery sites etc and they are everywhere around me, both the purple and white ones-maybe it's that old familiarity breeding contempt thing. The orange Globosa look tempting. I don't feel the same way about foxgloves though which are equally profuse in my area.

 

Ah, Foxgloves. Now I do think they're beautiful. Although they always revert to the standard pinky mauve, the white one is gorgeous and a clump of them, in a shady spot, can provide a an almost luminous pool of white light.

Chris

 

I also like foxgloves, much to my mothers disgust! She can't stand them......, along with buddleja!

Some people just don't have any taste!

 

I like Foxgloves too. I sometimes wonder if people's dislike for a certain plant, through no fault on their part, is to some extent down to the idea that they are a weed.

For example, many people dislike Rosebay Willowherb, Dandelions, and Thistles, because they are all common weeds. But if you look at them without letting preconceptions get in the way, they are all very pretty plants when they're in their prime I think.

 

I cut mine back to 18" to 24" some time after February. I think a 5' haircut is being too generous!

 

Thanks, I'll try that next year.