How to prune your butterfly bush (Buddleja)
When should I prune my butterfly bush?
You should prune your butterfly bushes in the spring, once the frost has disappeared. April is typically ideal for pruning, depending on where in the country you live, of course.
Butterfly bushes flower on new wood, which means that if you don’t prune the bush every year, flowering will end up higher and higher and you won’t be able to enjoy the beautiful flowers.
How to prune your butterfly bush
Butterfly bushes should be pruned down to a height of about 50-60 centimetres each year. In winter, the plant almost always freezes, regardless of the growing zone. In spring, when the frost has disappeared and the leaves begin to bud, you can clearly see how far the bush has frozen and where the new shoots will appear. You should prune the branches just below the new shoots, leaving about 10 centimetres of the living shoots.
It may feel silly to prune the butterfly bush so far down, but don’t worry! The further down you prune, the more abundant branches you will get and the bush will quickly grow back up with lots of new branches that will flower nicely.
Tools for pruning a butterfly bush
You don’t need any special tools to prune a butterfly bush. Classic garden tools such as secateurs or loppers will suffice, depending on the thickness of the branches. It can also be a good idea to have a debris collection basket and gardening gloves close at hand when you prune.
