Unseasonal Weather/ pruning Cornus alba + Buddliea davidii

Reading up on pruning these two plants, I should wait until March, but even up here in Northumberland they have sprung into life, particularly the Buddleias. They were planted last April as quite mature plants and are about 2 metres tall, and apparently very healthy. I'm just wondering if I should hold my nerve and wait for a month or get stuck in now.

Also I wouldn't mind any tips about HOW to prune since they are both mature plants and newly planted ones, so don't really fit into the categories I see when I read up on the subject

Any help greatly appreciated, including telling me if I've done the photos wrongly or posted in the wrong forum.




Pics for pruning advice by John Dalrymple on Gardeners Corner - The Friendly Gardening Forum

Pics for pruning advice by John Dalrymple on Gardeners Corner - The Friendly Gardening Forum

 

Hi John
Both are easy shrubs to prune. You can’t go wrong. As a matter of fact I pruned my cornus just an hour or so ago. I use the pruned shoots as cuttings
You can safely cut your buddleia as hard as you like....just make sure cuts are nice and clean.. it will flower in summer so don’t worry
Cornus? Again simple and straightforward. Cut weak shoots hard back to a centimetre or two. The rest can be cut right to the ground or to any point. Cut back hard and you will be rewarded with vigorous upright shoots with the best red colour in autumn and winter
Fear not, you won’t damage or kill those shrubs with pruning

 

Thanks Verdun. Up here we could easily still get a very cold snap, and what with these plants only going into the ground 9 months ago I was concerned about the effect of going the hard pruning route.

 

They are very, very hardy John. If you are a little concerned then wait a further couple of weeks or so. However, prune to your heart’s content without worry