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Can I cut back part of my butterfly bush now?

14 years ago

I know I'm supposed to wait until spring to cut it back, so that the top growth can help it through the winter. However, this particular butterfly bush has grown so large that it's now overshadowing a fothergilla that I need to cover with deer netting over the winter. (The deer love it but seem to leave the buddleia alone.) In any case, it will be a lot easier to cover the fothergilla if I can cut back about half the canes of the butterfly bush. BUT I really like the butterfly bush, so if you all tell me that will jeopardize it, I'll struggle around it. Thanks.

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Comments (8)

laceyvail 6A, WV
14 years ago
I'd advise not cutting it back. Just wrap the netting around the Fothergilla and attach to the Buddleia as well. The deer are not going to duck under the Buddleia to get to the fothergilla. They can't see the black netting, and feeling it but not knowing exactly where it is is very unpleasant to them since they can't tell whether they might get caught up in it.
jayco
Original Author
14 years ago
Thanks, that's good advice, I can tie the back of the netting to the humungous butterfly bush!
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Marcy, They will simply keep growing. I had one a couple of years ago that had very little dieback so I just removed the dead branches - of which there were few - and it kept growing. Problem is that it died completely the following winter and I'm not sure if there was any correlation with the fact that I did not cut it back. It was the only one which did not make it that winter. Usually though, I trim back to a foot from the ground. These perennials produce flowers on new growth, so most likely you will have very few blooms below 6 feet and quite a few beyond that where the new growth is, and yes, it will continue to grow and be a HUGE bush.
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I'm not a buddleia expert, but, I think the butterfly bush pruning rules apply mainly to cold, continental type climates, where a late freeze in May could stunt its ability to successfully make new growth for the duration of the growing season. I don't think it gets that cold in London, does it? I'm under the impression that all of Britain has a fairly mild climate, thanks to the Gulf Stream. I live in a mild climate (except for the hot, humid summers) and mine hold most of their leaves all winter long - I prune mine to about 2 ft. - 3 ft. tall in early spring. If yours has grown 10 ft. tall, then you must be getting enough heat for good growth. I say, go ahead and prune it, it'll probably do it good, make it bloom more, which is what you really want. It's your garden, and if it's blocking much-needed UK light, then it needs a trim! Sherry
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If we have a typical winter you could lose your Butterfly bush if you cut it back now. In the north it is best to wait until spring. I took care of the drooping problem with my bush by putting a very sturdy tomato cage over it in spring when I cut it back. I removed any errant lower stems and now it grows up through the cage and stays much more upright. The one on the side of the house I didn't do that so I have to remove a lot of the lower stems as they start extending out into the yard.
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laceyvail 6A, WV
14 years ago
Try using clothes pins. Much easier than tying.
lavender_lass
14 years ago
How much do you cut them back in the spring? I didn't cut mine back at all last year (first year I had them) but even with the cold winter, they seemed to do well this spring.
jayco
Original Author
14 years ago
Clothes pins -- good idea! I've been using twist ties....

Lavender lass, I cut my butterfly bush back to 6-12 inches in the spring, and it grows to 6-7 feet every summer. It's very vigorous!
lavender_lass
14 years ago
Wow, that's big. Mine are about 2'-3' right now. Maybe they grow bigger as they get older? They must look like lilacs :)
katob Z6ish, NE Pa
14 years ago
The heights for the newer varieties tend to be shorter. A couple years ago all of them would go over 6 feet in a season, but now you can find cultivars that stay under 3 feet. I have an Adonis blue that I don't think went much over 2 feet this year.... but I do cut it back down each spring.
calistoga_al ca 15 usda 9
14 years ago
In my zone I cut them back now to about 4 feet. They are about 8 to 10 feet high. In the late winter I will recut them to about 1 foot high. One year I cut them to 1 foot at this time of the year and they got "slime flux disease". It eventually grew back from the root but was never a good plant after that. Al

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