Cut back buddleia hard, so the
lower down, where you can
flowers will be
admire them and all the pollinators they attract
PHOTOS: JASON INGRAM; TIM SANDALL
I prune my buddleias hard at the beginning of every March. I remove all the previous year’s growth down to about 30cm. You can prune down to the bottom couple of buds if the shrub is free-standing, but I find that if you go this low in a border, the new growth is outcompeted for light by surrounding herbaceous plants, which reduces the quality of the buddleia’s performance.