Buddleia

We've had some quite strong winds over the last couple of days and it brought down a branch of the buddleia in our garden. It didn't snap it off, but seemed to split the branch in half along its length. It blocked the path even more than it usually does, so I tackled it today.

I cut off all the thinner branches and the growth, and when I got to the split, strangely, half of the branch was completely rotten, while the other half seemed like strong and healthy wood. The rotten half - about a metre and a half long - just broke off without needing to be sawed.

The picture shows the branch after removing the rotten half. It will be interesting to see if anything grows off it next year. Now I just need to prune the rest of it when the last of the flowers die off.