The buddleia is a real butterfly magnet thanks to its long, intensely fragrant flower spikes. The panicles, which are up to 30 centimeters long, appear between July and September/October; they provide intensive splashes of color in the garden when many other summer perennials have long since faded. Buddleia is available commercially as a perennial and as a distinctive standard tree.
What is a buddleia standard and how do you care for it?
A buddleia standard is a tree-shaped buddleia with a round crown that is ideal for small gardens or containers. Care includes regular fertilization and annual pruning while maintaining the crown shape.
Uses for standard buddleia
A standard tree is a buddleia that has been grown in a tree shape with a round crown on a single main shoot. This shape has the advantage that, in contrast to the natural shrub shape, it saves a lot of space - so the standard tree can find a place where a sprawling shrub up to two or three meters wide would never fit. This means that the standard buddleia is also suitable for small gardens and for keeping in containers.
Overview of possible uses:
- as an underplanted centerpiece in the perennial bed
- as a solitaire, for example on the lawn
- several tall trunks as a trellis for the main garden path
- planted in pots flanking the front door
- as an eye-catcher in the front garden
and much more.
Planting and caring for buddleia standard stem
In terms of care, a buddleia standard tree does not differ from the usual shrub form; there are only a few important tips to keep in mind when pruning.
Location
Like all buddleias, the standard tree thrives best in a sunny, (wind) protected and warm location. The soil should be rather dry and well-drained, the pH value slightly acidic to slightly calcareous. For a container plant, it is best to use a mixture of good container plant soil and gravel.
Fertilize
Planted high trunks are supplied with compost (€12.00 on Amazon) and horn shavings twice a year - at the end of March and in June. On the other hand, you can fertilize container specimens every two weeks between March and September with a liquid flowering plant fertilizer. Make sure that it contains less nitrogen and more phosphorus - this ensures more lush flowering.
Cutting
A Buddleja davidii standard always flowers on this year's shoots and should therefore be cut in early spring. Here, radical shortening, as is usual with buddleia, makes little sense, otherwise you will destroy the beautiful crown. So shorten the shoots so that the round crown shape is retained. Older branches, on the other hand, are cut off directly at the trunk so that new shoots can grow out. Shoots growing from the side of the trunk and from the roots are removed immediately - otherwise you will soon have a classic shrub instead of the standard trunk.
Tip
You also have to pay attention to one special feature when overwintering the shrub: In contrast to the shrub, you also have to protect the trunk and the crown shoots from frost, otherwise they can freeze away.
