Pruning a Butterfly Bush (Buddleia)

It’s early spring in Massachusetts and I’m getting the gardening bug but it’s still too early to clean out my gardens. But, timing is perfect to prune my butterfly bush so that it does not become unrully.

Use: Sharp pruners or loppers.

What to Do:

· Firstly, I always like to prune off last year’s flowers and drop them to the ground to decompose directly in the garden below the bush for the time being. I’ll clean them out when I do the full cleanout in a week or so.

· Secondly, Butterfly Bush likes a hard pruning. Experts say we can prune to about 12 inches tall to encourage lots of new shoots where the plant will flower. Because I want my bush to be tall as a background bush, I will prune my center stalks to about 24 -36 inches to retain some height.

That’s it. Time to figure out what to prune next….