Hi All,

I had some great advice form this group pruning my semi fallen
budlea earlier this year. I took the risk and cut it back to 1ft and
it has now sprouted new growth like a weed and looks great. (I still
find it hard to believe that I dont kill everything I touch in the
garden - Im new to this gardening lark).

I have a couple more which look tall and straggly and after such a
success I know want to know if it is too late too cut these others
right back?

Any tips, much appreciated!
Many thanks
Rebecca

In article ,
(Rebecca) writes:
|
| I had some great advice form this group pruning my semi fallen
| budlea earlier this year. I took the risk and cut it back to 1ft and
| it has now sprouted new growth like a weed and looks great. (I still
| find it hard to believe that I dont kill everything I touch in the
| garden - Im new to this gardening lark).
|
| I have a couple more which look tall and straggly and after such a
| success I know want to know if it is too late too cut these others
| right back?

It's getting a bit late for such drastic treatment, because the
new wood may not ripen for the winter.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

In message , Rebecca
writes

I had some great advice form this group pruning my semi fallen
budlea earlier this year. I took the risk and cut it back to 1ft and
it has now sprouted new growth like a weed and looks great. (I still
find it hard to believe that I dont kill everything I touch in the
garden - Im new to this gardening lark).

I have a couple more which look tall and straggly and after such a
success I know want to know if it is too late too cut these others
right back?

I'm sure you won't kill it by cutting it back hard if you need to but
(goes out to look at b~ d~ in garden) you may reduce it's flowering this
year (though I can't see any buds forming on mine yet .

--
dave @ stejonda
Bring culture back to NTL.
http://www.performance-channel.com/

In message , Nick Maclaren
writes
In article ,
(Rebecca) writes:
|
| I had some great advice form this group pruning my semi fallen
| budlea earlier this year. I took the risk and cut it back to 1ft and
| it has now sprouted new growth like a weed and looks great. (I still
| find it hard to believe that I dont kill everything I touch in the
| garden - Im new to this gardening lark).
|
| I have a couple more which look tall and straggly and after such a
| success I know want to know if it is too late too cut these others
| right back?

It's getting a bit late for such drastic treatment, because the
new wood may not ripen for the winter.

Really? My davidii has only grown to half its usual height so far so
there'll be a lot of new growth yet and I've never had problems with its
hardiness over winter. Maybe it depends on where Rebecca is in the UK?

--
dave @ stejonda
Bring culture back to NTL.
http://www.performance-channel.com/

In article ,
"dave @ stejonda" writes:
|
| It's getting a bit late for such drastic treatment, because the
| new wood may not ripen for the winter.
|
| Really? My davidii has only grown to half its usual height so far so
| there'll be a lot of new growth yet and I've never had problems with its
| hardiness over winter. Maybe it depends on where Rebecca is in the UK?

It does. But, except in the mildest areas, late summer growth of
buddleia is very likely to be killed. This is not a big deal,
as it merely delays flowering, but I would be chary of cutting
a buddleia back to 1' now.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

On 30 Jun 2004 10:19:37 GMT, (Nick Maclaren) wrote:


In article ,
(Rebecca) writes:
|
| I had some great advice form this group pruning my semi fallen
| budlea earlier this year. I took the risk and cut it back to 1ft and
| it has now sprouted new growth like a weed and looks great. (I still
| find it hard to believe that I dont kill everything I touch in the
| garden - Im new to this gardening lark).
|
| I have a couple more which look tall and straggly and after such a
| success I know want to know if it is too late too cut these others
| right back?

It's getting a bit late for such drastic treatment, because the
new wood may not ripen for the winter.


I cut my Bud's back in late Autumn because they have a tendency to
hang onto their leaves, and they're not particularly deep rooting -
which makes the vulnerable to winter gales.

I don't think ripening of new wood would be a problem - Bud's throw
out new shoots right the way into Autumn, so there's always new wood
that has to make it through winter...and I've never yet notice any
frost damage on new stems.

I'd be inclined to let them grow on, to build up the roots, then hack
them back in late September.

Regards,



--
Stephen Howard - Woodwind repairs & period restorations
www.shwoodwind.co.uk
Emails to: showard{whoisat}shwoodwind{dot}co{dot}uk

In article ,
Stephen Howard writes:
|
| I don't think ripening of new wood would be a problem - Bud's throw
| out new shoots right the way into Autumn, so there's always new wood
| that has to make it through winter...and I've never yet notice any
| frost damage on new stems.

Mine get it even the mild winters we have been having recently.
They suffer some damage at -5 Celcius and considerable damage
at -10 Celcius. At the sort of lows we had up until a decade
ago (-15 Celcius), even half-ripe wood may be killed.

| I'd be inclined to let them grow on, to build up the roots, then hack
| them back in late September.

I would be inclined to trim them now, and cut back to 1' next
spring after the risk of serious frost is over.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

On 30 Jun 2004 11:28:40 GMT, (Nick Maclaren) wrote:


In article ,
Stephen Howard writes:
|
| I don't think ripening of new wood would be a problem - Bud's throw
| out new shoots right the way into Autumn, so there's always new wood
| that has to make it through winter...and I've never yet notice any
| frost damage on new stems.

Mine get it even the mild winters we have been having recently.
They suffer some damage at -5 Celcius and considerable damage
at -10 Celcius. At the sort of lows we had up until a decade
ago (-15 Celcius), even half-ripe wood may be killed.

| I'd be inclined to let them grow on, to build up the roots, then hack
| them back in late September.

I would be inclined to trim them now, and cut back to 1' next
spring after the risk of serious frost is over.


That's a good point - my garden is fairly well protected from frost,
only certain parts get the full whack - so there's a chance that the
Bud's have never been hit by a real freeze.

In which case, yes, trimming back now, followed by a hard cut in
spring would be sensible.


Regards,



--
Stephen Howard - Woodwind repairs & period restorations
www.shwoodwind.co.uk
Emails to: showard{whoisat}shwoodwind{dot}co{dot}uk

Stephen Howard wrote in
:

On 30 Jun 2004 11:28:40 GMT, (Nick Maclaren) wrote:

I would be inclined to trim them now, and cut back to 1' next
spring after the risk of serious frost is over.


That's a good point - my garden is fairly well protected from frost,
only certain parts get the full whack - so there's a chance that the
Bud's have never been hit by a real freeze.

In which case, yes, trimming back now, followed by a hard cut in
spring would be sensible.

I've never lived anywhere where just hacking the things back when it seems
like a good day for it did anything other than slow them down very slightly
;-)

I'm pretty sure that advice is good for lowland Devon, Cornwall, Oxford and
Chester: in colder places, your mileage may vary!

Victoria
--
gardening on a north-facing hill
in South-East Cornwall
--

In article ,
Victoria Clare writes:
|
| I'm pretty sure that advice is good for lowland Devon, Cornwall, Oxford and
| Chester: in colder places, your mileage may vary!

Be careful about Oxford. Quite a lot of Oxfordshire drops to the
same temperatures as Cambridge, though typically with less of the
bitter wind syndrome. Sheltered spots in Oxford and Cambridge
will have no trouble - ones that are exposed to winter frost and
wind may do.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

In message , Nick Maclaren
writes

In article ,
"dave @ stejonda" writes:
|
| It's getting a bit late for such drastic treatment, because the
| new wood may not ripen for the winter.
|
| Really? My davidii has only grown to half its usual height so far so
| there'll be a lot of new growth yet and I've never had problems with its
| hardiness over winter. Maybe it depends on where Rebecca is in the UK?

It does. But, except in the mildest areas, late summer growth of
buddleia is very likely to be killed. This is not a big deal,
as it merely delays flowering, but I would be chary of cutting
a buddleia back to 1' now.

I have never noticed serious die back on mine in N Yorks. But I would
not want to prune them hard right now as they are almost coming into
flower.

I might be tempted to thin out straggling or damaged stems though.

Hard pruning appears to delay flowering of established budleas by a week
or so. I have two identical bushes in similar positions though one was
blocking the driveway and was severely cut back last year. It is still
in bud the other is well into flower.

Regards,
--
Martin Brown

In article ,
Martin Brown writes:
|
| It does. But, except in the mildest areas, late summer growth of
| buddleia is very likely to be killed. This is not a big deal,
| as it merely delays flowering, but I would be chary of cutting
| a buddleia back to 1' now.
|
| I have never noticed serious die back on mine in N Yorks. But I would
| not want to prune them hard right now as they are almost coming into
| flower.

It's never been serious here, but the tips of most shoots and some
whole shoots get killed every year. As that is less than needs
pruning away, it is unimportant. What would be risky in colder
areas would be shearing off now, meaning that ALL the new wood
is unripe next winter.

| I might be tempted to thin out straggling or damaged stems though.

I agree.

| Hard pruning appears to delay flowering of established budleas by a week
| or so. I have two identical bushes in similar positions though one was
| blocking the driveway and was severely cut back last year. It is still
| in bud the other is well into flower.

My experience is that frost pruning has a similar effect. Of course,
I could be mistaking the cause, and it might be drying, sub-zero
winds rather than the temperature as such. Whatever.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

In article , Nick Maclaren
writes

In article ,
"dave @ stejonda" writes:
|
| It's getting a bit late for such drastic treatment, because the
| new wood may not ripen for the winter.
|
| Really? My davidii has only grown to half its usual height so far so
| there'll be a lot of new growth yet and I've never had problems with its
| hardiness over winter. Maybe it depends on where Rebecca is in the UK?

It does. But, except in the mildest areas, late summer growth of
buddleia is very likely to be killed. This is not a big deal,
as it merely delays flowering, but I would be chary of cutting
a buddleia back to 1' now.

Hmm. I'm trying to get my head around that. Buddleia davidii flowers
late (August or so by memory - certainly no signs of flowers yet).
Therefore, rather than the rule of thumb 'prune just after flowering',
it's better to prune in spring. I usually tidy mine up in autumn and
prune right back early in the year. At least I think that's what I do!
So if spring pruning is OK, why would winter 'pruning' by frost damage
flowering at all? Or are you saying that if your flowering period is
earlier, so that you can prune after flowering and still get in some
growth that season, *and* that growth survives over winter, then you
will get flowers even earlier the following year?
--
Kay
"Do not insult the crocodile until you have crossed the river"

"Rebecca" wrote in message
m...
Hi All,

I had some great advice form this group pruning my semi fallen
budlea earlier this year. I took the risk and cut it back to 1ft and
it has now sprouted new growth like a weed and looks great. (I still
find it hard to believe that I dont kill everything I touch in the
garden - Im new to this gardening lark).

I have a couple more which look tall and straggly and after such a
success I know want to know if it is too late too cut these others
right back?

Any tips, much appreciated!
Many thanks
Rebecca
-----------------------------
I have always waited until spring before hard pruning and get a
good display of long stemmed blooms.
A neighbour, knowing no better, last year reduced all growths by half
immediately after flowering.. The bush is now a solid mass of bloom with
probably ten times the normal. Looks fantastic but then there was a mild
winter!! [that's my excuse as I had warned her!!].
Yours should be about to bloom and can be lightly pruned afterwards to
see what happens and then more severely in the spring if there has been any
damage.
Regards Brian.

In article ,
Kay wrote:

Hmm. I'm trying to get my head around that. Buddleia davidii flowers
late (August or so by memory - certainly no signs of flowers yet).
Therefore, rather than the rule of thumb 'prune just after flowering',
it's better to prune in spring. I usually tidy mine up in autumn and
prune right back early in the year. At least I think that's what I do!
So if spring pruning is OK, why would winter 'pruning' by frost damage
flowering at all? Or are you saying that if your flowering period is
earlier, so that you can prune after flowering and still get in some
growth that season, *and* that growth survives over winter, then you
will get flowers even earlier the following year?

Yes.

My comment was specifically against cutting it RIGHT back to 1'. This
often has the effect of making it put a lot of effort into reshooting,
whereupon ALL of its younger growth might be killed, leaving only
very old growth alive. That will at least set it back severely and
perhaps kill it - yes, even buddleia.

Pruning it moderately would lead to a more modest shooting and, if
that were all killed, there would still be some middle-aged growth
for it to reshoot from.

The point is that cutting right back to very old growth is a major
shock. Not a problem. But, if the plant then busts a gut to
regrow and THEN is cut back again, it is a pretty rough treatment.
That is why the books recommend waiting until spring for such
extreme pruning.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.