Instructions for Planting a Butterfly Bush
- 1). Spread a 2-inch layer of compost over a well-drained garden bed in an area that receives at least six to eight hours of sunshine in summer. Work the compost into the top 8 inches of soil. Avoid beds where water tends to stand as butterfly bushes do not tolerate soggy roots.
- 2). Dig a planting hole that is the same depth of the pot the bush is in. Make the hole twice as wide as the pot.
- 3). Grasp the bush around the stem right above soil level. Lift it out of the pot. If the bush is stuck, slide a trowel between the soil and the walls of the pot to loosen the root ball.
- 4). Set the bush into the planting hole. Add or remove soil as needed until the bush sets at the same level in the ground that it was at in its nursery pot.
- 5). Fill in around the roots with soil until the hole is refilled half way. Water the soil in the hole, forcing out any air pockets around the roots. Finish filling the hole then water a second time.
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