As far as I understand this is a butterfly bush or Buddleja Davidii. It’s been in our side garden for a long time, well before we moved in. I usually trim it every so often to keep it under control and the pathway clear.
Someone recently visiting mentioned that it’s invasive and can cause chaos if it’s touching the house which is often died due to the way it grows over the path.
Is it bad? Should I look to remove it? The bees seem to love it when it has its purple flowers.
by Awkward_Presence5511
28 Comments
Just keep it pruned.
It’s absolutely fine. Cut it back hard in the spring. If left they can become massive, but honestly it’s fine.
(This sub regularly causes panic about completely or mostly innocuous plants)
Have you watched “Day of the Trifffids”?
Just saying. 😉
Bees and butterflies love them. Just keep cutting it back and it’ll be fine. They are (almost) impossible to kill.
I bloody love a buddleja. Great for bees and butterflies to keep the rest of your garden pollinated as well. I’ve got a buzz ivory and a Ruby one in the garden which I let go bananas while the weathers good, then prune them right back in autumn. Smell wonderful as well.
No – just clip it back as mentioned all will be fine !
Your visitor was incorrect! These can be cut back HARD and return just as big, so don’t be afraid to get mean with it if it gets in the way. We had a monster in our garden we cut back almost to knee-height and it still grew back up to the height of the roof.
Invasive isn’t the same as “potentially bad for buildings if it starts growing into/out of the wall”!
I have the same thing but not that close to the house. Impossible to get rid of. I’ve even removed the roots and still growing in the same area. I gave up and decide once a couple of months I just prune it. If you let it grow, it will become MASSIVE – the one in my back garden is about 6m tall. But other than that, it’s fine – no real problems with it.
Classed as invasive but not banned from sale. If you go on a railway journey this summer they are absolutely everywhere on the sides of the lines. Seemingly unkillable so I’m sure they can take a rough pruning.
If the plant were literally growing out of the wall, like with all the roots in between the bricks, er yeah that wouldn’t be ideal. You sometimes see them like that self-seeded high up on an old wall that hasn’t been looked after.
But yours is clearly planted in soil, and on the other side of the little path. It’s absolutely fine!
The leaves and flowers can’t do any damage by touching the house, that’s ridiculous.
Can’t honestly imagine what this friend was thinking.
Don’t worry at all. As has been mentioned cut back to the most solid woody stems annually and watch it flourish each year. Smells great about now and is a magnet for butterflies and bees.
I’ve got 4 of these in my garden, every autumn I cut it back to knee height and every summer it’s back to 8ft tall again. Even if they are invasive they look really beautiful this time of year and the butterflies and bees absolutely love them.
What’s with all the buddlia panic on this forum ?
As far as I’m aware, the damage it does to buildings is down to when it grows in cracks and crevices, rather than root damage to foundations (I’m sure in some cases it will) as it has shallow roots, so I think you should be fine if it’s kept in check (which yours look like they are).
Jesus wept it’s only a buddleia ffs
Buddleja is a common plant. Nothing to worry about.
yes, a serious prune and it bounces back. Enjoy the butterflies
If its mannaged and cut back off ten it’s normally fine – just be aware it can spread so pull the little ones out if you see em start to spread across your garden.
https://preview.redd.it/yas36198n1ff1.png?width=720&format=png&auto=webp&s=c4f843bb8270474ed2588e7f13f28014ddd6db2b
It’s absolutely taken over the tain tracks behind my home!
You’re all good- prune it back a bit once the flowers are done (and deadhead when you can in the meantime)- then hard prune to 1-2ft from ground around Feb.. then I personally half it again in April/May unless I want it crazy tall for summer. They’re tough as old boots, you can hack it back and it’ll always bounce back.
You might have problems if you grew it directly against the wall but you’re likely to be perfectly fine there.
Enjoy it! I love mine.
Like so many species, it is not indigenous.
But invasive does not automatically mean harmful to others or to us or to our houses.
The beautiful butterfly bush is a great addition to our gardens and wildlife in my opinion. It can be easily kept under control annually, after the butterflies have had their fill, and also after the seed eating birds also through the winter.
it will be fine and so will your house. its not growing right next to it or in the cracks between the wall and the ground. as long as you keep it cut every year it won’t overgrow, the stems will rot out before that happens
Don’t you dare cut it down. Give it a 1-year trim and that’s it. The bees, butterflies, hoverflies, and ladybirds love these flowers.
People regularly seek it out for their own gardens, keep it under control and enjoy the beautiful flowers – and the plethora of pollinators it attracts. It looks nice there.
They get big the roots grow very well
We.had to use a mini digger to get one.up on a.job once….
It’s only a worry if you don’t keep it cut back every year.
I’m not crazy about how they look, and personally I wouldn’t keep it, I didn’t enjoy keeping on top of 3 huge ones at our last house. But if you like it and keep it cut back it should be fine.
Touching the house 😅
I was on the train yesterday into Cardiff, just before arriving at queen street, there are one of these, at least 6 ft, growing out of an actual concrete windowsill (not growing from inside) from the second floor! Resilient be buggered!