Pacific Northwest Garden Forum: removing butterfly bush

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JD77
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Joined: Oct-10-2003
Location: Western Oregon
Posts: 26

Topic: removing butterfly bush
Posted: Jul-15-2005 at 3:10pm

Is it as simple as dig it out and cover it up? Our new house has 2 huge butterly bush plants. I don't like them personally and I seem to remember they are invasive to some extent. Anyway, one of my first projects after we move in is the removal of these 2 plants. Can I just dig and dump?

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Fern
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Joined: Mar-11-2005
Location: Washington, Western Cascade Foothills
Posts: 1346

Posted: Jul-15-2005 at 6:12pm

Good question. I have a 2 year old plant I am going to dig up and kill and I hope it doesn't resprout from it's roots. I'm going to cut the top off and put it in my brush pile but I am going to either leave the roots in the wild area to die of drought next summer or put them in a plastic bag before I throw them away. It is an invasive plant that shouldn't be allowed to spread, even in the dump. The seeds are invasive,too, So watch out for that. I just bought a blue potato vine to grow on a bamboo pole teepee to replace it.

Fern

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cjmiller
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Joined: Feb-11-2004
Location: Oregon, Willamette Valley
Posts: 585

Posted: Jul-16-2005 at 10:51am

I am also planning to dig out my 2 year old butterfly bush. Hadn't thought of the wisdom of leaving the roots exposed to die naturally. Good idea, and I know that they do grow from roots and seeds--got 6 of the ambitious little babies this spring, and will wait to fill in the area until next spring. Just to make sure...

Carol

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DebbieTT
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Sunset zone 5, USDA zone 8

Joined: Jan-25-2003
Location: Washington, Kitsap Peninsula
Posts: 4241

Posted: Jul-16-2005 at 12:14pm

We dug out one of ours early this spring, or I should say my husband did, I have kept B. 'Black Knight' because it stays small enough for me to keep seed heads pruned off before they form, but I believe I will be digging this out too.

It has not returned. But I found 2 volunteers of this growing on the property. Worrisome because I tried to keep them deadheaded and still two are growing. Not good!

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Garden Spider
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Joined: Jul-27-2003
Location: Washington, Puget Sound Corridor
Posts: 1139

Posted: Jul-16-2005 at 5:56pm

Don't know if this will work for Butterfly Bush, but I was told that when I take down the holly, to cover the root area with a layer of black plastic for a year. It should work to smother the roots of B.B., too.

Barb

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JD77
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Joined: Oct-10-2003
Location: Western Oregon
Posts: 26

Posted: Jul-18-2005 at 8:19pm

Interesting observation from my drive up to Seattle yesterday. There were 3 patches of untended butterfly bush along I-5 a LONG way from a house.

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basilgirl
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Joined: Apr-03-2005
Location: Oregon, Greater Portland Metro
Posts: 84

Posted: Jul-20-2005 at 10:18pm

i personally just cut mine down to the stumb and all is good.

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KellieD
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Joined: Jul-26-2003
Location: Oregon, Northern Coast
Posts: 177

Posted: Jul-21-2005 at 9:47am

Mine is staying.

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Lisa A
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Joined: Aug-14-2003
Location: Oregon, Greater Portland Metro
Posts: 3243

Posted: Jul-21-2005 at 10:17am

I haven't been able to find any info on how long the seeds remain viable, sorry. Let's hope they don't remain viable as long as Scotch Broom, which I've heard can be up to 80 years (smoley hokes!) If the plant ends up at a yard debris/compost making company like Grimm's, most likely the heat engendered in the process will be enough to kill the seeds. Everything in my yard debris bin, picked up by my garbage collector, goes to Grimm's. Even if yours doesn't go to Grimm's, it's likely it does get taken to a similar company.

I dug a very weedy one out of my garden several years ago, as has my neighbor more recently, with no problems and no regrowth. If you cut it down, be sure to watch for resprouts and cut, cut, cut until you force it to use up all of its food reserves and it dies. I've no idea how long this would take.

Let us know what you do and what you discover.

No news to report yet on the BB invasiveness study, unfortunately. I really wish they'd hurry up and let us know which forms of this plant are the baddies and which ones, if any, fall into the not-so-baddies category.

Edited by Lisa A

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cjmiller
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Joined: Feb-11-2004
Location: Oregon, Willamette Valley
Posts: 585

Posted: Jul-21-2005 at 1:35pm

Do you know of a reason why you shouldnt put the branches through the chipper shredder? I just trimmed off all the branches this morning and thought of doing that when it gets cooler, that wood is so brittle--I am also amazed at the size of the roots of a 2 year old plant.

Carol

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Lisa A
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Joined: Aug-14-2003
Location: Oregon, Greater Portland Metro
Posts: 3243

Posted: Jul-21-2005 at 8:12pm

I don't believe it has any allelopathic qualities, like black walnut, and I've never heard of it re-sprouting from bits left over, like bindweed, so I don't think it should be a problem, grammagt. At least I've never heard any caution given regarding this issue.

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Fern
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Joined: Mar-11-2005
Location: Washington, Western Cascade Foothills
Posts: 1346

Posted: Jul-22-2005 at 6:58am

Lisa, I was just going to ask if you had heard any news about the studies. I tried searching online again a couple of days ago and still didn't find any results. One butterfly bush I bought as the straight species a couple of years ago is actually the variety 'Dartmoor'. A study they are doing in Florida must be only partly done because they gave results on the light and warmth requirements on germanation for some varieties. Unfortunetly 'Dartmoor' must reseed some because it germanates at higher tempatures than some others. So I do have to get rid of it too. For a wild moment when I figured out that it must of been mislabeled I thought I might be able to keep it because it might be a variety that didn't seed much. No such luck. The study did say the seeds need light to germanate.

Fern

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Oldest Archived Posts 4 ( Forum Locked)
Pacific Northwest Garden Forum : The Archives : Oldest Archived Posts 4

Author	Message
JD77 none Joined: Oct-10-2003 Location: Western Oregon Posts: 26	Topic: removing butterfly bush Posted: Jul-15-2005 at 3:10pm
	Is it as simple as dig it out and cover it up? Our new house has 2 huge butterly bush plants. I don't like them personally and I seem to remember they are invasive to some extent. Anyway, one of my first projects after we move in is the removal of these 2 plants. Can I just dig and dump?

	IP Logged

Fern none Joined: Mar-11-2005 Location: Washington, Western Cascade Foothills Posts: 1346	Posted: Jul-15-2005 at 6:12pm
	Good question. I have a 2 year old plant I am going to dig up and kill and I hope it doesn't resprout from it's roots. I'm going to cut the top off and put it in my brush pile but I am going to either leave the roots in the wild area to die of drought next summer or put them in a plastic bag before I throw them away. It is an invasive plant that shouldn't be allowed to spread, even in the dump. The seeds are invasive,too, So watch out for that. I just bought a blue potato vine to grow on a bamboo pole teepee to replace it.
	Fern
	IP Logged

cjmiller none Joined: Feb-11-2004 Location: Oregon, Willamette Valley Posts: 585	Posted: Jul-16-2005 at 10:51am
	I am also planning to dig out my 2 year old butterfly bush. Hadn't thought of the wisdom of leaving the roots exposed to die naturally. Good idea, and I know that they do grow from roots and seeds--got 6 of the ambitious little babies this spring, and will wait to fill in the area until next spring. Just to make sure...
	Carol
	IP Logged

DebbieTT Admin Group Sunset zone 5, USDA zone 8 Joined: Jan-25-2003 Location: Washington, Kitsap Peninsula Posts: 4241	Posted: Jul-16-2005 at 12:14pm
	We dug out one of ours early this spring, or I should say my husband did, I have kept B. 'Black Knight' because it stays small enough for me to keep seed heads pruned off before they form, but I believe I will be digging this out too. It has not returned. But I found 2 volunteers of this growing on the property. Worrisome because I tried to keep them deadheaded and still two are growing. Not good!
	IP Logged

Garden Spider none Joined: Jul-27-2003 Location: Washington, Puget Sound Corridor Posts: 1139	Posted: Jul-16-2005 at 5:56pm
	Don't know if this will work for Butterfly Bush, but I was told that when I take down the holly, to cover the root area with a layer of black plastic for a year. It should work to smother the roots of B.B., too.
	Barb
	IP Logged

JD77 none Joined: Oct-10-2003 Location: Western Oregon Posts: 26	Posted: Jul-18-2005 at 8:19pm
	Interesting observation from my drive up to Seattle yesterday. There were 3 patches of untended butterfly bush along I-5 a LONG way from a house.
	IP Logged

basilgirl none Joined: Apr-03-2005 Location: Oregon, Greater Portland Metro Posts: 84	Posted: Jul-20-2005 at 10:18pm
	i personally just cut mine down to the stumb and all is good.
	IP Logged

KellieD none Joined: Jul-26-2003 Location: Oregon, Northern Coast Posts: 177	Posted: Jul-21-2005 at 9:47am
	Mine is staying.
	IP Logged

Lisa A none Joined: Aug-14-2003 Location: Oregon, Greater Portland Metro Posts: 3243	Posted: Jul-21-2005 at 10:17am
	I haven't been able to find any info on how long the seeds remain viable, sorry. Let's hope they don't remain viable as long as Scotch Broom, which I've heard can be up to 80 years (smoley hokes!) If the plant ends up at a yard debris/compost making company like Grimm's, most likely the heat engendered in the process will be enough to kill the seeds. Everything in my yard debris bin, picked up by my garbage collector, goes to Grimm's. Even if yours doesn't go to Grimm's, it's likely it does get taken to a similar company. I dug a very weedy one out of my garden several years ago, as has my neighbor more recently, with no problems and no regrowth. If you cut it down, be sure to watch for resprouts and cut, cut, cut until you force it to use up all of its food reserves and it dies. I've no idea how long this would take. Let us know what you do and what you discover. No news to report yet on the BB invasiveness study, unfortunately. I really wish they'd hurry up and let us know which forms of this plant are the baddies and which ones, if any, fall into the not-so-baddies category. Edited by Lisa A
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cjmiller none Joined: Feb-11-2004 Location: Oregon, Willamette Valley Posts: 585	Posted: Jul-21-2005 at 1:35pm
	Do you know of a reason why you shouldnt put the branches through the chipper shredder? I just trimmed off all the branches this morning and thought of doing that when it gets cooler, that wood is so brittle--I am also amazed at the size of the roots of a 2 year old plant.
	Carol
	IP Logged

Lisa A none Joined: Aug-14-2003 Location: Oregon, Greater Portland Metro Posts: 3243	Posted: Jul-21-2005 at 8:12pm
	I don't believe it has any allelopathic qualities, like black walnut, and I've never heard of it re-sprouting from bits left over, like bindweed, so I don't think it should be a problem, grammagt. At least I've never heard any caution given regarding this issue.
	IP Logged

Fern none Joined: Mar-11-2005 Location: Washington, Western Cascade Foothills Posts: 1346	Posted: Jul-22-2005 at 6:58am
	Lisa, I was just going to ask if you had heard any news about the studies. I tried searching online again a couple of days ago and still didn't find any results. One butterfly bush I bought as the straight species a couple of years ago is actually the variety 'Dartmoor'. A study they are doing in Florida must be only partly done because they gave results on the light and warmth requirements on germanation for some varieties. Unfortunetly 'Dartmoor' must reseed some because it germanates at higher tempatures than some others. So I do have to get rid of it too. For a wild moment when I figured out that it must of been mislabeled I thought I might be able to keep it because it might be a variety that didn't seed much. No such luck. The study did say the seeds need light to germanate.
	Fern
	IP Logged

Topic: removing butterfly bush( Topic Closed)