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Posted by Royal Blue Mersey (U4753720) on Sunday, 11th March 2012
I have just pruned a couple of buddleia bushes and have taken 4-6 feet of many of the branches. Generally speaking I have taken each branch back to the first decent leaves that are now coming through. My problem is that the bush is quite high, with hardly any leaves lower down on the main trunk. Braches start to spread out at 4-5 feet which is where most leaves are developing. The advice I have read is to prune to about 1 foot above the ground but that effectively means sawing through the trunk below the point where leaves are forming. I recognise that it has got to this point because it wasn't pruned properly in the past but I'm not sure what to do now? Any advice would be helpful. Thanks.
At the end of last year I had to move a buddleia which had self seeded in the wrong place. All that was left was a small trunk about 6 inches long and some of the root system, but I potted it up anyway. I can now see new leaves breaking out on the trunk and it is also sprouting from under the compost. I believe they are pretty tough and almost impossible to kill!
I forgot to add, on Gardeners' World this week Monty Don said that you can cut a buddleia right down to the ground and it would be OK. So there you go, if Monty says do it then you've nothing to fear!
Some while ago I asked for advice on taking buddleah cuttings. I took about twenty from various bushes around the place. All but four have taken and yes I have forgotten what colour which one was. Cheers, Tony.
, in reply to message 4.
Posted by Royal Blue Mersey (U4753720) on Sunday, 11th March 2012
Thanks, I think I will have to be brave and prune them harder!
Yes you can cut right back and it will break buds from the bottom of the plant. If you have a multi stemmed plant it is easier and you can prune them back to different levels staggering the height of regrowth. They do not die easily, be brave.
, in reply to message 6.
Posted by Royal Blue Mersey (U4753720) on Sunday, 25th March 2012
I have been brave, cutting through the trunk about a foot above the ground. Will let you know how it goes on!
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