no, you wouldn't have to weave them because the branches grow every which way naturally, so you still get the random multicolored look. If it dies back in winter, yes you get to start over.
Butterfly bush aka buddleia
My thought about the weaving comes from reading elsewhere that those standards of tropical hibiscus that we see in the stores that have woven stems eventually choke as the stems expand. I think I remember that right. Buddlei makes some serious big trunks over time. I have had some too big for lopping shears when I left ithe plant alone for 2 or 3 years. But still, there should be no problem bracing and tying 3 trunks loosely, and take away the props as they learn to stand on their own.
I agree that since that cutting them off means start over, but I think the wood will stay green into fairly cool winter znes. Mine don't even drop leaves fully until mid-winter. But if one wanted to or had to cut them back, we would have planted 3 babies side by side to get parallel, perpendicular trunks, (rather than say 1 gallon plants) and therefor could not tell from which roots the spring growth is coming.
Peter
This message was edited Aug 3, 2006 3:17 PM
I'm not a fan of weaving or braiding. A long time ago I saw a ficus benjamina that had been braided in the early days. When I saw the plant years later, the braided trunk had fused into each other so what you had was a very lumpy looking solid trunk, not pretty IMO.
Peter, how big a trunk? I didn't realized they got so big
If I recall correctly, there were a number of trunks about 2 1/2" to 3" thick, and they would have gladly gotten bigger if I had not wrestled them to the ground.
Peter