Horticultural aide-mémoire

Prune Buddleja

Pruning causes mystified fear in many minds. Start with something straightforward, such as Buddleja davidii, so tough it adorns railway sidings and bomb sites. It flowers on new growth, so however it is cut back it will perform as always. It exemplifies the general rule that the harder you prune, the more vigorous the new growth. With a pair of loppers, remove those great long wands of last year’s growth (you’ll see) until you have a framework of stout shoots facing in the required directions. Oh, and clear up. SCD