My young buddleia reaching for the sky

I bought a young 1ft white profusion buddleia plant and planted it carefully in April. I decided I wanted it to grow as a tree because my 'garden' is really just one long flower bed. I followed various instructions, choosing the straightest, strongest-looking stem and staking it. As it grew, I removed the bottom sucker (right word?!) and watched it grow...it is now nearly 6ft tall, a single stem (8mm at base, 5mm at top) with 9 sets of leaves. As I wanted it to branch out sideways and not just 'up', I thought I should go and pinch out the top set of leaves, as I had done on my sweet peas, but I found a small flower coming right at the top.

Have I left it too late to pinch any new growth out or would this have been the wrong thing to do anyway? Should I just leave it to keep growing up, or will it branch out on its own at some point? I'll be needing to find a higher stake for it soon as it's reached the top of its stake now.

What am I doing wrong? So sorry for the baby language but I don't know all the proper terms. I hope you experts can help me?

 

If any of mine overhang the path I just prune them back whatever time of year it is.

 

Sorry, John - I don't understand your reply...I wish I did have overhanging branches - that's the problem! I just have a single 6ft upright stem with loads of leaves and buds and a bigger bud right at the top. Whilst I'm thrilled with its growth of 5ft in 2 months - and it seems healthy - should it really be looking like a column-type fruit tree?!! I know I'm playing mother-hen to my new plants (typical beginner, I guess) and fuss over them a lot, but I just feel like I should be doing something to help my White Profusion spread sideways a bit.

 

@tephie
If you cut it back or pinch out the top you will lose this years flowers. Buddleja davidii "White Profusion" flowers on this years growth.
I would leave it for this year and let it get settled in; you may get a number of flower spikes at the top, generally one main one and then smaller ones appear below it, encouraged by cutting off the flowers as they finish flowering. Next spring cut this back to about two foot above the ground and let all the shoots that appear grow, each one will produce flowers. Buddleja davidii does not need watering or feeding. Also don't bother with a stake unless in a windy spot, the stems naturally arch over. If your garden is particularly windy then you can cut back in the autumn so you have less to catch the wind.

 

Thank you, Nigel...so sorry, I'm still finding my way around the site and keep pressing the wrong buttons - I'm an incurable Luddite when it comes to tech stuff - please bear with me, everyone............
So I'll just leave my White Profusion for the moment, then...I'm sure when it comes to pruning next spring I know I'll have to brace myself. Could I ask, please, what about the single stem off which all the leaves and shoots are appearing: will it become a 'trunk' by itself? And how long should I expect this to take? Baby language problem again...'stem', 'trunk'...?

 

Thank you, Armandii - yes, I'm relieved to hear it seems I haven't done anything wrong (yet). I wasn't expecting my buddleia to do anything much this year - its rapid growth has been a source of great excitement to me, never having watched anything grow before! It's just that I got so used to pinching-out the new growth on my sweet peas, religiously following on-line instructions on that subject, I felt I should be doing that with my buddleia, too...

I'm afraid 'pics' are quite beyond me; I don't even have a mobile phone (never wanted one); all I can say is that it looks like a column-type fruit tree, growing straight up its support to 6ft with loads of side branches about 8" out. I'm quite happy to leave it to curve over at the top now that it's reached the top of its support, but I'm afraid if I take the stake away it will fall down, so I'm interested in when and how the 'stem' will become a 'trunk'.

See the problem I have with vocabulary?!

 

This is what my B davidii "Royal Red" looks like at the moment, it is about 15 years old.


The flowers are just forming at the tips.

Here is a close up of the bottom and you can see where it gets cut back to.

 

Nigel, thank you very much for your pics. This helps a lot! I still can't believe the speed of growth of this shrub...5 feet in 2 months...so I won't flinch at the brutal cutting back next Spring. Do all shrubs grow this fast?! If so, I might be tempted with another.....

 

Thank you for the advice. Very funny. I feel foolish asking my silly beginner question now.

 

As it happens, Armandii, I was being sarcastic and you missed it. Given your particular brand of 'humour' I can't say I'm surprised. I didn't feel silly or foolish asking my first question - your silly pics made me feel like that. From someone clearly decades older than you and with her own brand of humour, please remember what it was like to be a beginner. I'll be an accomplished gardener before I post another question.