All this week I have been keeping myself busy in the lottie with lots of clean-up work. It is a pleasure because one can immediately see results. Whilst removing some of the debris on the ground I came across this little guy--the very first one I have seen this spring: But I am digressing...I want to talk about the pruning that has been going on in the lottie. From the Ides of March, the buddlejas should be pruned (here at least). I have quite a few bushes in the flower garden to give the plot some height, and I simply like the bush and it's flowers. I know how to prune the bushes correctly, but I enjoy experimenting and trying to form them based upon their location and their purpose. Whatever your plans are for shaping your buddleja I feel that you shouldn't simply just lop the branches off about 12 inches from ground level or remove branches in a "willy-nilly" fashion which can give your bush an unwanted and unattractive shape; unless that's exactly what you specifically want to do of course. This is the way the council workers do. They don't have the time to be 'artistic', shall I say. Understandable, but for your little corner of Paradise, you may want to be a bit more thoughtful. (1)--I like to first look and see what needs to be removed, what needs to be shortened and if you have paths as I do--I don't want to prune the branches in a fashion that will allow new branches or twigs to grow out towards and into the path. This impedes walking. I sort of use the same philosophy pruning buddlejas as I do roses; that is to say, carefully looking for just the right node that will grow in the direction that I want it to before lopping. In order to make my decisions, I walk in a circle around the bush and look and imagine...then form a plan based upon the plant's location. (2)--The next thing I do is get rid of all the dead and old, thick branches, but this is March. There are not buds or leaflets on every single branch, so how do I know which branch is living and which is actually dead? The simplest way that I know of is to take your fingernail and scratch the bark. If the curled bark reveals some green, then it's alive...if it reveals only brown, then it is dead. I used a small pocket knife to illustrate this so that it will be easier to see. You can see that the scraped bark pealed straight off (not curled, mind), and the tissue underneath was light brown at the periphery and darker brown more internally. Ok then, this indicates the branch is sadly, dead and can be removed. (3)--When removing dead wood, I prefer taking it off right down at soil level. It is awkward lopping the branch off at this level with your loppers and even more difficult sawing it. The result is that you can not always get a clean cut because of the proximity of the soil. Since the wood is dead, I don't worry too much. Had the branch been still green and alive (and I was just thinning) then I would have lopped it about 3-4 fingers above soil level and then with a cut at a jaunty angle. Once you have removed all the dead branches and twigs, then it's time to have a look at the living and to do some planning. I can show the knife scraping of the bark now of a branch that is living. Notice that the peeled bark curls a bit and the there is green to see at the edge of the scrape and white medial to that. (4)--When pruning branches that you want to leave long, I prune the last 1/3 of the branch or twig, generally speaking. I will have looked at the leaflets along the length of the branch noting which way they are pointing. Look carefully at this foto and notice that the new growth comes in twos, but they emerge pointing in different directions. Do you see that the leaflets just below the secateurs point left and right? Then do you see that the ones above the secateurs are pointing almost straight at me and that it's mate on the backside of the branch is pointing away from me? How you see them situated indicates which direction they will continue growing. Just look at the leaflets and try and imagine that leaflet in 1½ months--it's length will be enormously longer by comparison. The leaflet nodes that you decide to leave will determine the shape of your bush as the spring and summer carry on. (5)--Shaping, a question of personal preference. I have made my bushes have several different shapes depending upon the purpose and location. The ones by the arches I have trained to grow up and long. I have a couple that are in the plots up front, and those I keep low and a little bushy. Still others I have forced to grow in sort of a christmas tree form--tallish and narrow at the top and a bit bushier at the bottom. The thing is, that the buddleja is a resilient bush and responds very predictably to your clip...so the secateurs are in your hands and you make the choices. If the bush doesn't turn out as you wanted this year, then you learn from it and next season you try something else to correct the shape. I have made some real doozies of mistakes over the years, so I urge you to take that extra few minutes and be thoughtful about your pruning-- whether it be buddlejas, prune trees, blackberry bushes, Philadelphus or whatever bush or tree you are pruning. Take time and look before you lop.
Very good posting Sjoerd. That is how I prune most shrubs. I like my shrubs to have a natural look, not rounded or straight across and it is important to prune the joints the way you want it to grow.
Ok, then, off to mistreat my Buddleja. It's been allowed to grow as it wanted, so I'll have quite a job taming it. Thanks for the info, lovely.
I see you've been doing what I've been doing this week. Your post is going to help out many of our members Sjoerd - especially with the photographs. :-D Many thanks.
Thank you GAIL--Great minds travel the same channels, right? You are so right about pruning properly. Ahhhh...Thank you, GLENDA. That is such a sweet thing to say. Good luck, DROOPY--send pics when it has recovered and is putting out blooms, oké? I hope you are right, EILEEN...although I suspect that most of the members already know about pruning. Thank you, KAY--I wonder what your "rookies" will make of it.
great tutorial sjoerd! and glad you mentioned blackberries! i have to do mine very soon! i forgot to mention that i saved a ladybug drowing yesterday and found another one on my kitchen window.
That was very helpful! Very easy to read and understand. Will be looking for more like these in the future.
Glad you liked this posting, IndigoAsh. Those Buddleja's are coming right along now and have plenty of growth. I hope that this will be a good season for them this year.
