Debi Holland shows you how to keep your buddleja beautiful with a prune in autumn to protect it from wind rock damage in winter.
How to wind rock prune buddleja
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Buddleja can put on a lot of growth in a year. In exposed gardens, winter winds can pull tall stems back and forth, loosening the roots and making the shrub unstable. Shortening the branches in autumn reduces this wind rock.
Reduce the height before winter. Use sharp secateurs or loppers and cut just above a leaf node. Take around a third to a half off the height and remove any dead or rubbing branches. Deadheading can extend flowering into early autumn, and removing spent heads also reduces self-seeding.
Save the hard prune for spring. On this summer-flowering buddleja, I cut back to a framework around 30–60 cm from the base in spring. The shrub flowers on fresh growth, so pruning brings the new blooms back down to a height where you can enjoy them.
Chip up the prunings or stack them in a quiet corner to make a habitat pile. A trim now and a harder prune in spring will set your buddleja up for another summer of flowers.
