Buddleja

Moved house last year, lots of plants too big for thier place and too crowded, but a particular problem is the Buddleja, its like a small tree, thick 3' + trunk, huge top heavy crown, overall about 7' tall, I pruned it last year but it still got so heavy that we had to tie it to the concrete fency post as it was in danger of falling over. Can I cut into the main stem to shorten it to about 2', will any new growth come from this or will it die. Also can I collect all the leaves from a variety of trees around the garden and leave them in a spare black bin to make leaf mould, if so how long will it take before I can use it. 

Dove may comment anyway-but buddleia pruning was discussed yesterday-if you read the last comment?-and the others?

http://www.gardenersworld.com/forum/plants/when-should-i--prune-buddleia-/30686.html

As regards collecting leaves -it may take a year perhaps even longer to turn into leaf mould-make some slits in the bottom of the bags as well -some leaves take longer than others.

Thank you for that, I will cut the Buddleia back now and then in Feb/March I will cut the main trunk down to knee height and hope for the best.  Also thanks for the advice on leaf mould

That sounds a good plan to me - it will take a while to re-shoot from the bottom, but don't get disheartened, it'll look great by the summer.  A handful of rose fertiliser when it begins to regrow will encourage it.