Romantic but unruly: cut back your buddleja now – before it takes over your garden

2026-03-27 - 11:19

Act now and be rewarded with a neater shape and more purple blooms Until relatively recently the only shrub in my new garden was a buddleja the size of a van. We’ve not done much out there since we moved last August; the house has been a near-permanent building site and, frankly, I was overwhelmed by it all. So I’ve been grateful to local gardener and designer Charlie Chase for helping me forge the beginnings of a garden from a wilderness. The things he’s lovingly unearthed from a sea of green alkanet are now beginning to show themselves. Just this morning, as I pegged out the washing, I noticed a Clematis armandi had started flowering. The bulbs I lifted from the old garden last spring are settling into their new homes too, along with dozens of supermarket daffs, which I correctly assumed would cheer us all up. Continue reading...