Forum home Plants
This Forum will close on Wednesday 27 March, 2024. Please refer to the announcement on the Discussions page for further detail.

Anyone had health problems after pruning Buddleia?

12346»

Posts

  • GardenerSuzeGardenerSuze Posts: 5,675
    @josephineasmith Welcome  I guess it is possible to have a reaction to any garden plant. Dust from Ivy as mentioned makes my throat dry and makes me sneeze. Viburnum rhytidophyllum makes me itch and sneeze. It is at the top of the garden out of the way and I admire it from a distance.
    I have worked as a Gardener for 24 years. My latest garden is a new build garden on heavy clay.
  • fidgetbonesfidgetbones Posts: 17,611
    I found the worst one was Phlomis fruticosa, the shrubby one. I treated it very much like a buddleja, but putting it through the shredder had me wheezing away so badly that I got rid of it altogether.
  • I’ve never had buddleja so cant comment, however I have had a problem after trimming back laurel. It makes me cough for quite a while afterwards .. is it just me or have others experienced this ?
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,102
    edited July 2022
    I'm seriously thinking of getting rid of our buddleja from the front garden ... I have noticed over the past few summers that I get rhinitis and sinusy when the weather is warm and sunny and we have the front windows open ... the buddleja is the only thing I can put it down to ... 😢

    ... but what to replace it with ... ?

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • LynLyn Posts: 23,190
    edited July 2022
    They don’t affect me unless I start cutting them,  dead heading or autumn cut.
    i think they hold a lot of dusty stuff in those dead seed heads. I come in choking and gasping for water.
    I don’t get like that from the Spring cut down though. 
    I wouldn’t get rid of them, I love to see them covered with bees and butterflies. 
    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

  • Lizzie27Lizzie27 Posts: 12,478
    I'm thinking the same as you @Dovefromabove, I deadheaded mine the other day and had a terrible asthma like attack, had to stagger up to the house gasping for breath with runny eyes and nose. Felt quite ill for over an hour. It's got to go!
    North East Somerset - Clay soil over limestone
  • I have pruned my buddlia tree for several years and never had any reaction to it but this year I suddenly got a terrible coughing fit. I went indoors to get some water and the coughing eased up. A few days later I collected a few more cuttings from the same  tree and got an even worse coughing fit
    ,so bad that I was gasping for breath and thought I might suffocate
    !  Only after being indoors for a few minutes did it subside I will not be pruning my Buddlia again I am having it cut down 
  • @peterjakiro10549 I  know someone who had a similar reaction to Eleagnus. A plant she now avoids, I did think at the time it could possibly be pollen. 
    I think I would seek medical advice just to be safe as it affected your breathing. 

    One of the Viburnums make me itch and sneeze.
    Welcome and I hope you are feeling better now. 
    I have worked as a Gardener for 24 years. My latest garden is a new build garden on heavy clay.
  • LynLyn Posts: 23,190
    I posted on this thread at the beginning,  buddlia cutting affects me,  I take my time over it,  not the whole lot in one go,  The Spring cut doesn’t affect me,  I won’t be doing an autumn cut this year. 
    i would rather have a bit of wheezing cough though and come in for water  (it soon goes off) than cut them all down,  when I see them covered in bees and butterflies I could never cut them down. 

    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

Sign In or Register to comment.