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Budleja dying
Standen1
Posts: 65
hi everyone. I have a well established budleja - at least 20years old which has always flowered well. Last year it appeared that the trunk had Ben attacked and there was a pile of 'sawdust' at the base. I treated it with pesticide and it continued to grow and flower. This year I pruned it as usual, half of the plant seemed dead but the rest of it started to grow as usual with leaves developing well. Last week though all the leaves have suddenly withered and are falling off. Is this just a result of old age? Can I just cut it right down and will it regrow? If I replace with another budleja will I have any problems? Am grateful for any advice
0
Posts
When the wood boring insects move in the end has come. Try and avoid the pesticdes if you can, they kill the goodies as well as the baddies and you'll never achieve a balance of life in the garden.
I'd remove and replace
In the sticks near Peterborough
Thanks for your reply, if I replace is there anything I can do to prevent this happening again and are any nearby plants or new plants likely to be affected by this?
There are lots of different varieties of buddleia available now - have a look at what's available and choose another.
And if that is attacked in another 20+ years is that so bad? Just part of the rich cycle of life.
The woodboring insects don't go for young growth, they like proper woody trunks, so your new shrub will be safe for quite a while.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
you could coppice it to the ground and see if you get regrowth from there, might take a couple of years to get back up to a decent size