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Gardening

Buddleia

(12 Posts)
ExD Wed 02-Sept-20 12:13:04

If you cut a none flowering shoot off and stick it in the ground it will sprout. The light purple ones grow everywhere, no need for good soil, it'll happily grow in building sites, waste ground, I've even seen one on the chimney stack of a derelict building.
And the butterflies love them!

Greyduster Wed 02-Sept-20 12:05:31

I found a ‘rogue’ growing in my front garden and thought it would be a good idea to add it to the one growing in the back. I planted it, watered it in, and it died!☹️ Should have left it where it was, but they certainly take up a lot of space if you aren’t careful.

Fennel Wed 02-Sept-20 11:50:38

Thanks for all the advice. i'll le husband loose on it eventually.
No, I don't want to get rid of it. It's part of a light green screen outside the sitting room window and is sort of restful.

Alexa Wed 02-Sept-20 11:36:04

I have a self seeded buddleia which I allow to remain as I am too lazy to plant a garden buddleia.

I grew ivy up it to six feet high to act as a privacy screen and of course I get the blossoms above the ivy.
The way to prune is easy. You don't even need a tool to remove the summer's growth. The canes that bore the blossom can easily be broken off by hand any time. I keep the canes till early January just before new spring shoots appear.

Farmor15 Wed 02-Sept-20 11:29:15

I don't think Fennel wants to get rid of it, just afraid of getting out of hand!
We have a number of buddleia in our (large) garden, and I can confirm that they don't put up suckers but do self seed a bit - but not in a troublesome way. Seedlings are easily pulled up when small. The size of the plant is easily controlled by cutting back - the stems are relatively soft and easy to cut the smaller ones with a lopper.

SpringyChicken Tue 01-Sept-20 21:10:14

Buddleia self seeds easily. I don't believe they put out suckers (someone will correct me if this is wrong) so to eradicate, cut it back hard to below ground level (no need to dig up the roots unless they are in your way). Check weekly for any new shoots and rub them off while they TINY. This will be a very quick and easy task.Leaving them to become long is no good - the plant derives new strength from the shoots. A year without any top growth should see it off for good.

MiniMoon Tue 01-Sept-20 20:50:06

Here is an article from the RSPB about Buddleia.
www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/advice/gardening-for-wildlife/plants-for-wildlife/shrubs-for-gardens/invasive-shrubs/

annodomini Tue 01-Sept-20 18:34:48

geekesse, that reminds me of trying to uproot a reluctant rose. In the end, I attached a tow rope to the tow bar of the car and the roots surrendered.
I 'found' a buddleia today that I thought had died. I should have known that they are indestructible. It's coming up between two other shrubs which will have to give way to it!

geekesse Tue 01-Sept-20 17:43:30

I once managed to rip the bumper off my car trying to pull up a buddleia stump. The roots went down about 4ft!

Jaxjacky Tue 01-Sept-20 16:43:13

Just had ours chopped to a stump, it was commandeering the veg patch, foliage massive, roots lifting up slabs. As they encourage butterflies and bees this year, I planted valerian, also have borage and golden rod.

The stump of the buddlea will be ‘treated’ with SBK.

Whitewavemark2 Tue 01-Sept-20 16:20:00

You can cut down in late winter to about 6 inches. It will be kept under good control then. Weed out any that pop up where you don’t want them.

Fennel Tue 01-Sept-20 16:17:07

This year a couple of buddleias appeared in our front garden.none last year or the year before (we've only been here 2+ years.) One has grown massively, about 10ft high.
I like it but fear it's getting out of hand.
How do they spread and can we control its spread?