Content

• Steps
• Part 1 of 2: Pruning your Butterfly Bush
• Part 2 of 2: Supporting Flower Growth
• Warnings

As the name suggests, butterflies are very fond of the butterfly bush - and so are you! The flowers of this tall bush will be a great addition to any garden. However, they must be properly pruned to maintain the beauty of the flowering shrub. Check out Step 1 to find out how to properly trim your Butterfly Bush.

Steps

Part 1 of 2: Pruning your Butterfly Bush

1. 1 Wait for the right time to prune the Butterfly Bush. There are two types of Butterfly bush: the davidii butterfly bush and the alternifolia butterfly bush.
   • Prune the davidii butterfly bush in early spring. If your winter is not too cold, or you live in a warmer climate, then you can prune it at the end of winter. Look for new shoots on lower stems near the ground to know when to prune.
   • The alternifolia butterfly bush should be pruned in mid to late summer, right after the plant has bloomed. This species blooms on last year's stems. It blooms in spring.
2. 2 Look for any wilting. Withering can be caused by harsh winters or disease. In the first case, a particularly cold winter can cause your butterfly bush to wilt. When the plant dies, the tips of the leaves or roots begin to wither, this slowly leads to death, which ends in withering of the entire plant. Withering is common in the butterfly bush that is found in colder climates. In harsh winters, butterfly bushes wither completely from leaves to roots. However, this does not mean that the plant can no longer be preserved, and this is where pruning will help.
   • No need to cut off butterfly bushes that bloom late, i.e. you don't need to check for winter damage as the plant may be dormant.
3. 3 Prune your butterfly bush with pruning shears. Since these plants often wilt in winter, they should be pruned as often as possible. You should prune your butterfly bush about 1 foot (30 cm) from ground level. Use pruning shears to trim the shrub back to about one third of its size.
   • If your butterfly bush grows on the outskirts of a garden and under a fence and you want it to grow tall, then cut it back to about 2 feet (60 cm) so that the bush grows (and produces flowers). Then you can plant lower plants nearby while the Butterfly Bush blooms.

Part 2 of 2: Supporting Flower Growth

1. 1 Cut off any excess shoots while the plant is in bloom. This means you must remove flowers that have wilted while the butterfly bush continues to bloom. Withering flowers will turn brown and look wilted. You need to cut off the wilted flowers at the base of the stem. If you do this, then there is a guarantee that your bush will produce new buds already in the next flowering season, even if you leave it unattended.
2. 2 Remove wilted flowers at the end of the season. At the end of the season, you should prune all wilted flowers. This will boost productivity by creating embryos over the next year. This will also limit the possibility of self-seeding and thus it will not grow all over your garden.

Warnings

• Butterfly bush is an aggressive variety in some parts of the country, so make sure you burn off the cuttings and sprouts and dispose of them in trash bags.