Buddleia

[daffodilbrain]

Is it just a pretty weed? Does it deserve a place in my garden? How should it be pruned?

I paid for one in a garden centre, so I don't think it's a weed! They grow like wildfire so mine is in a big pot in a bed to try to keep it somewhat tamed. They survive being cut back hard although a much better gardener than I told me to do that before valentine's day. Mine has already shot up and I'm looking forward to lots of lovely bees and butterflies visiting in a couple of months.

Yes it is a weed and it grows on abandoned land and by the sides of train lines across the UK.

Especially the bog standard one that everyone buys when they first get a garden.

They self seed everywhere although the wildlife adore them. When y9u have more than one, which you will, prune them back hard at different times so the flower season goes on longer. The bees will thank you for it. However keep an eye out for them growing where you don’t want them because they can make a surprisingly doughty root stock in a very short time and are then a bugger to get out.

How do you kill them off? I have 4 that appeared in the front garden last summer. They block the front door!

They self seed everywhere

No, they don’t. Certain varieties do, but definitely not all of them. I’ve got 14 different varieties so far and none of them self seeds.

Where are all mine coming from then? They’re in cracks in the walls! They’re just the usual purple ones, nothing fancy.

How do you kill them off

Pull or dig them out.

I love mine, I have a few. Butteries love them and the flowers are gorgeous. Also being a bit of a novice in the garden they're very forgiving. Can chop them right back and they bounce back in no time

They’re just the usual purple ones, nothing fancy.

Those are the thugs 😀 The fancy ones like B.globosa, B. Sungold, B. Moonlight are better behaved

Mine self seeds and gets weeded and cut back on a regular basis. It brings loads of gorgeous peacock butterflies to my garden though, so I give it a space.

I hate buddleia and we've dug them up in our garden - one was right up against a window and took a lot of digging out.
We've replaced them with other plants that attract butterflies, etc.