In the Garden

Time to Prune the Butterfly Bush

April

I’ve learned the hard way that you want to wait till you see new growth in spring before pruning butterfly bush and plants in the sage family.

During a warm spell one February, I took my pruners and went after a butterfly bush in the garden. Sure enough, we had tons of snow and bitter cold after that and the bush never came back.

This is a great perennial, by the way—deer resistant, hardy, with great blooms in late summer that go well into October. I’ve now learned that it shows up on lists of nonnative invasives, but it’s been well behaved for me.

Here’s what it looks like in bloom.

You want to leave it up for winter and wait till mid-spring to prune. It’s got some winter interest, too.

Here’s mine in snow.

And here it is after pruning. It’s hard to see, but there really are tiny new greenish gray leaves on the stalks. You want to take it down to 12 to 18 inches above the ground.

And here’s my sage, after pruning. You can see new green growth in the foreground. Note how it’s almost growing out of a stone wall—very hardy, very drought tolerant (and great with lamb). Those are chives on the left.

And Russian sage, after a spring haircut.

This entry was posted on Friday, April 27th, 2007 at 8:33 am by Bill Cary.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
Share and Enjoy: | Print Print | Email Email

10 Responses to “Time to Prune the Butterfly Bush”

Jennifer April 29th, 2007 at 8:59 am
Thank you so much for your information. I planted two butterfly bushes last year and they were absolutely beautiful. Your blog helped me in that I wasn’t sure if I should prune them back or not.

I had read that you are supposed to “prune hard” the bushes. I wasn’t sure what that meant. Your pictures definitely help!

Again, thank you!

Jen
Lorie May 17th, 2007 at 9:47 am
It was great to find the pruning information on butterfly bushes. I have lost a couple of beauties by pruning incorrectly. Last summer I purchased another new one because they are truly so lovely and do attract the butterflies like mad up here. I have just started to see new grow at the base of the bush over the last couple of days and know now just how to proceed with pruning!
Thanks again!
Harry Herr April 1st, 2008 at 10:30 pm
Dear Bill,

Thanks for the info on butterfly bushes. I ordered 6 last spring from Audubon Workshop. The bushes weren’t very big when I received them last spring of 2007, but by the end of summer they grew to about 3ft tall. How often do I fertilize them or should I just leave them grow on their own.
Harry Herr April 1st, 2008 at 10:39 pm
Dear Bill,

I Harry Herr forgot to tell you what part of the USofA I live in I’m from Central PA. 30miles north of State College,PA. Again thanks for the info on pruning butter fly bushes. How often do you fertilize them?
Bill Cary April 3rd, 2008 at 6:49 am
Henry,
Yes, they take 2 to 3 years to really get going. Other than a good covering every spring with 2 to 3 inches of organic mulch, I’ve never fertilized mine and they do better every year.
craig April 6th, 2008 at 9:29 am
how do i prune a scottish broome
Harry Herr April 7th, 2008 at 9:22 pm
In the spring the Almish offer what they call mush-room soil
or mulch. I understand that this is the soil that they grow
the mush-room in. The Almish seem to have alot of good ideas
when it comes to gardening but do not like to give to much
info to the English as the call us. Do you have any info on
how to apply this mulch to gardens, can it be used as compose or just as a mulch. Your comment would be greatly
appreciated. Harry
Bill Cary April 8th, 2008 at 11:02 am
Mushroom soil is very high-quality, rich soil. It’s not mulch, more like compost.
Harry Herr May 3rd, 2008 at 9:57 pm
I tilled up a new patch in my yard to plant Dahlia tubers.

What can I add to the soil to prevent the top from becoming
hard and crusty. The soil looked very nice until it rained
the other day. Can I add the mushroom soil to the soil to
loosen it up or is the mushroom soil to rich for the dahlias
or should I use peat moss to ament the soil.
Harry
Bill Cary May 5th, 2008 at 7:47 am
Dahlias like it rich, so the mushroom dirt would be fine. So would some compost, either home-made or by the bag from a nursery or home center.

It is a condition of your use of the comment features associated with the blogs that you do not: Use the site to post or transmit any unlawful, threatening, abusive, libelous, defamatory, obscene, vulgar, pornographic, profane or indecent information of any kind, including without limitation any transmissions constituting or encouraging conduct that would constitute a criminal offense, give rise to civil liability or otherwise violate any local, state, national or international law. You alone are responsible for the material you post or send. Refer to the Terms of Service.