Hello everyone! I have a couple of questions, I have a couple of butter fly bushes They are really big is it ok to cut them back now or should I wait I dont want to do it blooming time I don't think , And I also have a rose bush thats big is it ok to cut them now? I need to move a couple of them can I do it now? sorry for all the questions.I think the butter fly bushes would be bushier if they are cut down, and bloom more I could be wrong I don't know. Thank you all alot Margie
Hi Margie... I have no clue about roses, but I remember my Aunt always saying to prune them on Valentine's Day. What type of butterfly bush do you have? Buddleia?
Generally, butterfly bushes (if it is buddleia you have) are cut back in late winter/early spring. I cut mine to about 2ft from the ground when they get too unruly.
When we lived up north in NY near Lake Ontario, we had buddelias. We cut them back to about 18" in early spring, as soon as we saw signs of life (little nubbins that would become leaves.) It did help keep them bushy and they bloomed like crazy. Roses are different. They respond to pruning by starting new growth. Here in Texas we prune around Valentine's Day, but we don't have much cold weather after that. When your rose bushes start to get the tiny red growth nodes, prune. Some types of roses (climbers, pyramid, and floribundas) require less pruning. Of course, you can always, at any time of year, take out dead canes or those that are rubbing against another cane. Moving roses in your area is best done in springtime. Root disturbance is lessened by warmer soil; trauma to the root ball is more easily recovered from in warmer weather; and you don't freeze trying to wrestle a cold rose into a hole!
Hi Margie, I'm in SW. Michigan (near Grand Rapids). I wait to cut back my butterfly bushes (Budlleia) around Mid-May. Pretty much after the danger of frost has passed, and I cut them back to about 8 inches. If you cut back too soon, they tend to start to grow and new growth can freeze off. Each die back makes your plants weaker. New growth freezes and cells explode. Each time this happens, more energy is spent by any plant, not just butterfly bushes. Shorter cuts make for shorter bushier shrubs, and more blooms. You want to cut them back every spring. (Some years the rabbits do it for me.) If you don't cut back, they will continue to look more scraggly each year. Cut back the old rose just about anytime now. Same thing holds with pruning. Shorter means a shorter bushier plant. If the rose is a vine, cut back no more than 1/3. cut back too much and a vine rose spends all the energy growing canes and no blooms. Hope this helps some. Ron
Over here, people usually trim butterfly bushes almost down to the ground. I see a few in a small garden downtown and they have lots of green coming up. I once had a big one, tried to give it a tree shape, didn't trim it. It grew taller than me, nice straight stem, but one winter it died. Not sure this has something to do with the fact that I didn't trim it.
I trim my butterfly bushes the week of March 15. Last year it was warmer and they had started to sprout. They didn't do as well for me. They bloom on the new growth. Don
I planted a Buddelia last year and it's just about 2 foot tall. Guess I need to get to give it a trimming so I can more of those wonderful blooms.
I prune mine like DonM...on the 15th of march. If you remember your history--the 15th of march was a day for sharp implements. Those Buddleja's ought to beware.
When I lived in OH, I didn't trim these until they show signs of life, like Papa2mykids. Agree with the rest of what he said too, although I didn't choose an arbitrary height for them. Your cuts should be made so that a vigorous node remains at the tip of each branch, IMO.
