Keeping Buddleja in check

cut to 5' in the autumn and then as Kirsten recommends

 

Its nearly finished flowering now, just a couple of purple bits left. As soon as they've gone I was going to hack it right back. Then I'll chop it right down in early spring, and may consider moving it at the same time as it takes up too much space where it is. I have an unused patch of ground down the bottom of the garden, I might move it into there and then use the recovered space to extend my main flower bed.

 

"As soon as they've gone I was going to hack it right back. Then I'll chop it right down in early spring"

Is "right back" different to "right down"? :D

Don't overdo it in the Autumn - although if you move it cutting it severely back may help it to survive and re-establish.

 

Buddleias root easily from cuttings and also quickly outgrow the space alloted.

I would suggest regularly repacling your buddelia with two year old new plants from your cuttings.

regarding flowering finished this year - just try cutting off the dead flowers and see if you get a new crop.

cutting back now will probably produce some new and unwanted growth this year.

 

What about one of these:

http://www.thompson-morgan.com/plants1/product/p88044/1.html

I've just received mine to go in my wildlife garden

 

Can't they be divided? Budds that is?

 

Thanks for all the advice and ideas. Now I have formulated my cunning plan.

In a couple of months, I'm going to hack it down to within an inch of its life. Then I'll dig it out. I'll trim back the root ball so that it will fit in a large container, and site it down the bottom where I don't usually bother (because the ground is full of rocks and like concrete). Then I'll condition the ground it is currently in and extend my main flower bed that way, or maybe choose a compact evergreen shrub to go there (plenty of choice of there - but some ideas would be welcome).

The thing is the buddleja tree started off as a weed growing out of the paved area in front of the house (not the public pavement ). The only reason it got to live is because the wife liked it and didn't want me to pull it out when I was tidying that area, so I promised to put it in the garden, without really expecting it to survive being torn in in the middle of one summer. If fails to survive the implementation of my cunning plan, I'll pretend to be sad and buy the wife a nice hydrangea as compensation.

 

Just looked it up in the RHS Pruning book and it says Bud Davidii should be cut back in early spring down to just 2-3 pairs of healthy buds just leaving a stump s00k

 

"Bud Davidii should be cut back in early spring down to just 2-3 pairs of healthy buds just leaving a stump"

That's pretty much what I do ...

 

Any of them of whatever size (Including the 15' tall ones) Get cut down to 3" at the end of February. (Terrifies the owners) They then put on about 4-6' of growth before they flower. Do what you like with them, not sure you can hurt these plants:wink: