The Spruce / Adrienne Legault
Properly pruning yourbutterfly bush(Buddleiaspp.
)keeps this rapidly growing shrub compact and tidy and improves flowering.
Strictly speaking, you do not have to cut back your butterfly bush at all.
The Spruce / Adrienne Legault
As ornamental shrubs go, butterfly bush is very forgiving and pruning improves the plant’s vigor and appearance.
Autumn pruning in warmer climates has less risk of creating potential for winter damage.
Timing is important since pruning stimulates new growth that can be easily damaged by heavy winter weather.
The Spruce / Adrienne Legault
Dead or diseased branches can be removed any time.
Use a secateur orhand prunerto cut just below the spent flower at a 45 degree angle.
Tip
Buddleia alternifoliaandBuddleia globosaare two cultivars that bloom on old wood.
The Spruce / Adrienne Legault
Prune these cultivars after flowering by trimming no more than 1/3 in mid to late summer.
Hard pruning reduces flowering for the following season.
A second hard pruning just before or at the start of gardening season is done to stimulate new growth.
The Spruce / Adrienne Legault
Locate dead and damaged branches.
You should be cutting new seasonal softwood growth.
Use the loppers for thicker branches.
The Spruce / Adrienne Legault
Locate a healthy set of leaves and make the cut just above the leaf set at a 45-degree angle.
Use anvil loppers to cut old growth woody branches at the base.
Either bypass pruners or bypass loppers are used to remove softer wood depending on branch size.
The Spruce / Adrienne Legault
This is to promote new growth and the maximum number of blooms.
Cut at a 45-degree angle just above the uppermost set of new leaves or existing leaf buds.
globosain late July or early August following steps 1 through 3.
The Spruce / Adrienne Legault
These varieties need only a light pruning to manage shape and size.
Over pruning will result in fewer blooms the following year.
Butterfly bushes should be cut back to a foot tall to promote new growth and the best blooms.
The Spruce / Adrienne Legault
Hard pruning is done in late February or early March depending on your climate.
For cultivars that reseed deadheading also reduces unwanted spread.
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