I live in New England and am a new comer to butterfly gardening.
I had a wonderful first season.
2006-10-10 03:18:27 · 7 answers · asked by HELENE B 1 in Home & Garden ➔ Garden & Landscape
The butterfly bush, lat. Buddleia, grows in any good garden soil with good drainage and water supply to maintain growth but needs not much else. B. davidii prefers chalky soil. After fall flowering cut within few inches of ground in Zones 4-9, or in spring in Zones 1-3. Failure to prune properly results in bare stems on the bottom and flowers only on top.
2006-10-11 13:12:16 · answer #1 · answered by hildegard r 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I use very little fertilizer because I ammend my soil every spring and fall with compost. If you have your own compost pile, this costs you nothing. If you have to buy it, I recomend a good garden center where it should run about $2-$3 per bag (depending on the size of the bag). To ammend your soil, mix one half compost with one half native soil at the time of planting. If you are ammending a large garden area, just pull back the mulch around each plant and put down about an inch of compost around each plant and scratch it into the soil, and put back the mulch. If you need to put down new mulch anyway, I sometimes spread the compost on top of the existing mulch and then put down new mulch on top of that.
If you feel you need to add some fertilizer because your soil is very poor, then I recommend an organic fertilizer from the Espoma line. Since it is organic, it is difficult to overdue it and it won't burn your plants. Butterfly Bushes like a slightly acidic soil, so I would recommend you use Holly Tone from Espoma.
2006-10-10 04:18:11 · answer #2 · answered by Adina 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Wait until the ground freezes or the leaves are off all the trees so you don't stimulate new growth. You can use any balanced granular as 6-10-4; 10-10-10, etc. They will die back to the ground and may take a while to emerge next year. Mulch them well, then in April or May look for new shoots at the base of the dead wood.
2006-10-10 04:14:34 · answer #3 · answered by wmarmiller 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Give them a fert. with a higher middle number (phosphorus). Something like 15-30-15. It doesn't have to be those numbers, it's just an example. And if you prefer organic ferts. the numbers will be much lower but still the middle number highest (like 4-6-4).
2006-10-10 04:07:13 · answer #4 · answered by college kid 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Most plants are not too particular. Plant in a well-drained organic soil and fertilize in the spring with a general purpose garden fertilizer.
2006-10-10 04:04:27 · answer #5 · answered by Ralph 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
butterfly bushes? please use latin name!
We have them in the UK to us there an invasive weed, and would never want to feed them 'Buddlia davidii' is there Latin name, but I bet yours are much nicer..
2006-10-10 13:28:45 · answer #6 · answered by helritch 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
butterflies, you can buy them
2006-10-11 16:46:27 · answer #7 · answered by dodgeum43 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋