I have two shrubs on my property that were identified to me as Butterfly Bushes by the previous owner. A photo is shown below. The bushes are about 10' tall and getting out of control. I'd like to cut them way back so they are more managable. One of my neighbors said I should just hack them down to 3' to 4' with a chain saw and they'd grow back nicely... Can/should I do that? Any other suggestions? The bushes are really pretty during the summer, so I'd like to avoid killing them... ( photo / image / picture from devans175's Garden )
Many different bushes are called butterfly bush simply because they attract butterflies and no one knows their botanical name. Check out the pictures here on PlantStew to see if they look like yours. The Buddleia, also spelled Buddleja, can be cut back in spring to make it bushier. They can also be dug up and divided into two or more additional bushes, that looks like what needs to be done to yours. They also come in about 6 colors from yellow to a dark purple.
I suspected as much. The photo you posted isn't the plant. I know it's hard to ID a plant without a flower or fruit. The flowers are pinkish white and aren't aranged in "groups" like the one you linked too, but I guess the bottom line is the same. I need to cut it back and divide it... right?
Devans -- This looks like a bush that grows in my yard. I don't know the name of it. Someone once called it a honeysuckle bush, but I don't know if that is true. It has small pink flowers in spring, and then later on gets some berries that the birds love. Does that sound like yours? If so, I have cut it down to a foot after blooming and it grows right back very prettily through the summer. I have to do that every couple of years or it will get waaaay out of control sizewise.
It sounds similar, though I don't recall any berries... I did cut it down to about 3'. I'll post picks when it blooms...
One more suggestion, if I may... This plant looks "congested" -- I mean, it looks like it's got so many stems growing so thickly together that none of the new growth will get enough air and light, and even after pruning, the plant will still have an unruly, overgrown appearance. I'd recommend pruning out approximately one-third of the branches. Just snip them down as close as you can to where they emerge from the soil or from the main trunk. Try to cut the oldest stems, if you can identify them. Next year, go back and prune out another third. If the plant is healthy, it will respond with a vigorous flush of new growth, and will take on a more graceful, open shape.
