At this time of the year, you’d really expect the garden to know winter is well on its way. The mild temperatures of the last few weeks seem to have delayed reality. In the garden the buddleja are still going strong, the one pictured is Buzz Lilac.
These plants are really low maintenance and look great as well as being fabulous butterfly magnets. I shall leave mine now until the spring, when they will benefit from pruning which prevents them from becoming leggy and helps to maintain a nice compact plant. They flower on new growth, so pruning will also help to promote lots of new stems that will flower in the same year.
Pruning is best done once the hardest frosts are over, as the new growth begins to show. Firstly, remove any dead, diseased, damaged, or weak stems, before pruning all off the remaining stems back to form a low framework. In future years you can simply shorten the previous season’s growth back to 2 pairs of buds from this permanent framework.
A top tip I’ve picked up for pruning buddleja is to always use clean, sharp secateurs and make your cuts squarely, just above a healthy pair of buds. Meanwhile, in the greenhouse, the succulents and others are doing well. The heater has not had to kick in too often as the temperature has not really dropped to danger levels for them as yet.
It pays to check on them nonetheless and to open the greenhouse door on warmer days for the air to circulate. The warmer weather has helped produce 3 fabulous stems of flowers on t.
