If you cut your butterfly bush consistently, you will be thanked for your effort with a summery blossom symphony, a long flowering period and floral vitality. The right time is just as important as a courageous cut. Read this guide to learn when and how to properly prune a Buddleja davidii.
The butterfly bush is cut early in spring
Cutting date is in spring
A butterfly bush blooms on this year's wood. First, the young shoots sprout with numerous flowers. Punctually at the beginning of summer, the first panicles of flowers unfold at the tips of the shoots. In the further course, several side branches are formed along the bottom shoots, which also boast of flowers.
Due to the growth behavior of the summer lilac, early spring is the ideal time to cut. When temperatures drop above freezing between mid-February and early March, set the course for this year's Blossom Festival with the pruning shears. With this choice of date, you also take account of the Federal Nature Conservation Act by observing the grace period for our endangered bird life.
Prune the butterfly bush vigorously
The faded wood of the previous year has to give way so that your butterfly bush can display its opulent blossoms. The following rule of thumb applies to the size of the cut: the harder the pruning, the stronger the growth. With the following pruning you clear the way for young blossom wood:
- Shorten trellis-forming shoots by half, at least to a height of 100 cm
- Targeted cutting at a short distance from a leaf knot or eye
- Cut back faded side shoots from the previous year to 2 to 4 buds
- Beginning with the 4th year, cut back an old skeletal shoot to 10 cm
- Choose a young ground shoot as a successor and shorten it to 30 cm
- Thin out excess, weak ground shoots to short stubs
You have done everything right if the buddleia is left with a remnant of knee-high ground shoots with short side stumps. The available space determines the correct number of scaffold drives. A shapely summer lilac with three to five bottom shoots as a framework is well positioned. A well-measured portion of compost with horn shavings (€32.93) is just what the ornamental shrub needs to sprout powerfully and live up to its name.
Clean out for extra long blooms
Experienced house gardeners always have a pair of scissors with them on their summer patrols through the garden. Numerous flowering shrubs benefit from regularly cleaning out withered inflorescences. In this regard, a butterfly bush is no exception.
Cut off faded panicles by placing the blades of the scissors about an inch above a swelling bud. By promptly addressing wilted blooms, you also prevent invasive self-seeding spread. Are overly long branches a thorn in your side? Then prune them back to a strong, outward-facing side shoot.
tips
In the front yard, a butterfly bush makes itself popular as a house tree because it is so easy to train as a standard. Beginners in the hobby gardening acquire the gem at a reasonable price from the hand of the master gardener. A separate tutorial is dedicated to the annual pruning of the butterfly tree, which you can read here.