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Perennials Annuals

Cutting back butterfly bush: I hope I don't regret this

5 months ago

I've always cut back butterfly bush in the spring. IDK why, maybe that's what the advice on the board was way back when - ? This year I decided to cut back 3 of the 4 I have in the fall, just finished up today in late November. I guess I'll find out whether this is ok or not here in zone 5...if not, well fortunately my beloved Black Knight are usually pretty easy find for sale during the season.

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Comments (7)

Jay 6a Chicago
5 months ago
They seem to hold onto their leaves going into winter. I had better luck not cutting them back, if they still had green leaves, so they could continue photosynthesizing as long as possible.
kitasei2
5 months ago
I would pile whats left with mulch or leaves… Good luck😬
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I have had a butterfly bush quite a few years too. I moved mine from the front to the back two years ago. It must be in a more sheltered location, because I get new buds all along the branches up to as high as four feet. I am in zone 6a. So where I normally would cut mine back to less than a foot, as some have suggested, when it was out in the front, the past two years, I made a decision to let it grow as much as it was able to. I just trimmed back the branches on it to about four feet high. Both years, it has retained a vase shape and bloomed fine, topping out at about 7 feet. Next year, I am thinking I will go back to a lower height, just to give it blooms lower on the bush and maybe a little less height and fresh branching. pm2
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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.
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Comments (4)
I would think you could just prune it back a little bit to stimulate fuller growth without sacraficing size much. Even a more drastic pruning won't necessarily result in a smaller bush. Every other year or so I hard prune my Abelia and they return the same size they were, just fuller. The same seems to be true of butterfly bushes, but I don't have any mature ones to say for sure. Somehow the one I planted for my mother sprang to full size in two years while mine are still half the size. She has better sun, I blame it on that. Anyways, I think pruning it by up to half will result in a prettier bush with more blooms that I doubt will be any smaller. At the same time, it won't hurt it to leave it alone for another year either. -Ais.
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Comments (7)
I'm not sure what you were expecting them to look like---but that is pretty much what they do-----only bigger and fuller over time. They don't often have a great form but most people tolerate them for the blooms and fragrance that attract the butterflies and bees. If you cut them now, you would be cutting much of the future bloom, though that could be done as long as it is not a severe pruning and is not very hot and dry. You might wait until they start blooming and thin out a limb at a time so you can bring a few inside in a vase with any other flowers you might have blooming at the time. I have tried to limb them up to make them look standard or tree like but it is a never ending battle to keep the new grow pinched back. I have given up and just let them do their thing.I kind of clip out the dead stuff, thin out a few branches at the trunk and keep the tops at a reasonable height. The wind seems to catch them and knock them over if they get too tall.
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laceyvail 6A, WV
5 months ago
Late winter/early spring cutting back much more likely to be successful in zone 5. Maybe you'll be lucky.
mxk3 z5b_MI
Original Author
5 months ago
Well, I did it because I planted some daffs and tulips for viewing out the window in spring in the area where the BB are located -- rangey plants that they are, I thought leaving them would spoil the spring show.
rouge21_gw (CDN Z5b/6a)
5 months ago
As others have written, spring cut back is the "practice" most recommended but an established BLACK KNIGHT is a quite hardy BB so maybe it wont matter. If you remember please come back next May/June 2024 and tell us how it went.
rosaprimula
5 months ago
You might get away with it. We would here, in the UK, where buddleja are an immortal weed. Available and fast growing though, if not. I still reel a little when I remember last years multiple deaths.
linaria_gw
5 months ago
I think the assumption is that the branches somehow protect the base so that in case of much freezing back it will at least resprout from the centre

and another is that- with lavender at least- it is said that pruning them in late fall leaves open cuts from wich the plant can get too dry because those spots evaporate water

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when I did garden maintenance in Berlin 20 y ago, I always made sure to take off the top third to reduce the "wind sail" because in the sandy soil very tall specimen got loosend or rocked by strong wind in the winter

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keep us posted when they resprout it is always interesting when you try somethin different

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