Training new buddleias

FlyDragon · June 2019

Hi all, i’m new to the forum and after some tips!

i’ve just bought two royal red buddleias to attract butterflies, i’ve seen some articles on training them to a tree shape which i’d like to do but because I wasn’t thinking of this when I picked them I didn’t look for ones with strong central stems.

What at would you do to train these two upwards?

FlyDragon · June 2019

Fairygirl · June 2019

Hi Clare. Buddleias aren't something that are usually formed into a tree shape. They get pruned right back in late winter/early spring and then become a branching shrub, but I expect you could remove stems to form a trunk. It might be difficult with the ones you have because they don't have that single stem, as you say, but it might be possible if you take them right back, and then judiciously remove stems next year. Perhaps try it with one and see what happens?

I have a couple against a fence, and I prune back to the fence height in autumn, then just take all the lower branches off in spring so that there's more 'top', to give privacy. They're very forgiving though.

Helix · June 2019

I would leave them for now, as in full growth so not the time to prune them. And then next Jan/Feb prune them to favour the shape you want - which I guess means removing the second main stem. However since they have previously had the leading shoots pruned you will never get a long “trunk” to your tree (if you look in the middle you’ll see a shoot that has been cut off, with lots of new long shoots coming out around it) You could turn another of these long shoots into a leading shoot, but there will always be a point of weakness where it joins the original main spur.

FlyDragon · June 2019

Thanks, I saw this article and liked it!

https://plantcaretoday.com/train-a-fountain-butterfly-bush-into-a-standard.html

Maybe be the best thing is just to get one that’s more suited and keep these as shrubs.

Obelixx · June 2019

The two you have have clearly been grown and pruned to be multi-stemmed shrubs which is what most people expect of a buddleia. I suggest you plant them out in the borders where you want them to be or else pot them up into decent sized decorative pots and keep them as shrubs.

That will mean they get a good prune late next winter or early spring and that will be the opportunity to take cuttings and you can select the best one to grow your own standard form with a single main stem whose lower leaves are removed to encurage growth higher up and which then gets pinched out to create the "fountain" ball you show in your link. You can give spares away to friends to grow on as they see fit - standard or shrub.

Training new buddleias

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