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I already have one budleja (butterfly bush) (it was already on the site where I started working on it), and I prune it every early spring. It grows really well every year.
However, I bought another one, which is much smaller now (but its adult size should be a normal size for a butterfly bush - 5-8 ft). I don't feel comfortable pruning it hard the next spring - it looks too smal and fragile. Should I nevertheless prune it hard next march, or perhaps wait for several years?
Buddleia is known in Britain as the bomb-site plant because it was the first to colonize bomb sites during the WWII blitz.
It can survive severe pruning from a very young age. I've known it in the gardens of several houses that I or my friends have owned, and have seen it regrow healthily after being pruned in its first spring. As long as you are confident that the roots are healthy you shouldn't have a problem.
