My job of the week this week is back to the job I love most pruning, there is nothing much nicer pruning and shaping a plant knowing that it will look good and encourage better plants for it.

Pruning buddlejas is a pretty simple job, all you need is a pair of really sharp secateurs, a sharp pruning saw and a pair of loppers to carry out the work and also a pair of leather gloves and safety glasses just in case of any slips of the tool and plant kind, always find avoiding A&E ideal as the NHS is so stretched

I like to carry out this task around this time of year as although buddleja are tough plants that will grow anywhere, I have found in the past that doing it early can exposed the new shoots to forest damage and then cause a few problems to the health of the plant.

I aim for a plant that’s about 45cm in height when pruned, as the new growth in the year can be up to 7ft in height, I find pruning down to this height idea to encourage a good shaped plant with lots of new growth coming rom the base. First thing I do is to remove any dead wood out of the plant and remove any old massive stems that are crowding the newer younger stems. The new stems are pruned down to about 35cm to allow the frame work of side branches to form over time. In a couple of years, these will get to the 45cm height and then hopefully removed. For the side growths that are already growing from the frame work of older branches, I remove them down to 2 sets of buds with a straight level cut, why a straight cut? Well the buds on buddejas are oppersite each other so required a flat level cut, other plants like roses are alternate so need a oppersite cut

Well I hope that’s easy to understand and enjoy the weekend of pruning.