Butterfly Bush's (Gaura)

21 years ago

I have 10 lovely of the gaura's planted in front on my newly planted icebergs. They have been planted for about 3 months and are getting a bit straggly.

When is the best time to cut them back. Have been told to cut them harsly, Right to the ground !!!!! Is this true, Dont want to kill them.........!!!!!!!!

Thanks

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Comments (8)

annabel__WA
21 years ago
You can also take cuttings from the bits. I was loathe to be so drastic with mine, especially the first year, but they were OK. I have a few here now which I pruned a bit by cutting off all the dead flowers and will prune hard later.
jaykoko
21 years ago
After the best of flowering has finished, I prune mine back to the ground. I also give them a haircut after their first flush of flowers starts to look bad and they flowers come back again - mine are still flowering now (however have had a very long autumn!).Once the flowering is done, it will be cut back to the ground - otherwise they get really think, woody and bushy.
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navy_blue
Original Author
21 years ago
Thanks

So cut them all the way to the ground?!?!? Dont want to be too harsh on them.
Can they be done know consideringthey are just on their last legs of flowering and winter is close. When do most of you prune them back hard (ie. time of the year)?
jaykoko
21 years ago
I leave a couple of inches of sticks but I suspect shoots come from the root system so if it was to the ground, would be okay - i have them popping up all over my garden, they do spread so dont fret too much if you loose a couple, I am sure a couple more will pop up somewhere
riverstone6
21 years ago
These things grew like triffids in my Hawkes Bay garden several years ago, I clobbered them right back to little stumps just showing for the winter!! They were snowed on and frosted but they popped up again in the spring and flowered all through summer. They are better for frequent haircuts to stop seeding which prolong the flowering, don't be afraid to chop them as they are bomb proof. Good luck, Sandra
Granville44
21 years ago
Yes, bomb-proof - chop them back to the ground. You can strike from the cuttings very easily. The new shoots come from ground level so hacking back visciously is good for them.

I've just hacked mine last week but you can judge when to do it when you see them getting straggly or when the first of the cooler weather starts.
Barb
navy_blue
Original Author
21 years ago
Thanks all for the comments, I will strat cutting them back hard now as it is starting to get really cool now, well cold to be true as anyone in Central Vic wuld know !!!!!!!!!
shelleyvw
21 years ago
One of mine is still in flower here in SA is it best to wait until the flowers have gone before pruning? It has put on a wonderful show through summer when many of my perenials were no longer in flower during the hot dry months.

Shelley near Adelaide