It’s time to cut and run Winter’s free gifts are there for the taking with a pair of clean secateurs
THE end of the year is upon us and the last practical gardening topic I’m going to hit you with before 2020 concerns propagation, and in particular creating new plants through hardwood cuttings.
Shrubs, climbing plants and roses make up a large proportion of our garden plants, and quite often we fail to realise how many of these can be propagated easily, cheaply and cleanly during the dormant season.
In my gardening year, there’s little as satisfying as wrapping up well, taking a visit out to our stock beds with sharpened implements, gathering suitable cuttings material and preparing it in the potting shed. The strike or success rate is high.
I find it a wonderful way of sharing the goodies from my plot with family and friends. It’s a really economical way if you need to plan for some large scale planting, for example a hedge.
The best time of the year to take hardwood cuttings is during the dormant season which is anytime after leaf fall and up to bud burst the following spring.
What plants are suitable? Deciduous plants that are dormant in the winter – shrub roses, cornus (dogwood), willow, poplar, ribes (flowering currants), spiraea, abelia, deutzia, kerria, philadelphus and viburnums. It’s also suitable for fruits such as gooseberries and currants, and climbers such as honeysuckle, parthenocissus and vines. Hardwood cuttings from evergreen plants such as Ilex (holly), privet, cotoneaster and skimmia can also be taken at this time of year. You need a sharp, clean pair of secateurs, rooting hormone powder, containers and compost. Make sure you sterilise propagation tools fully before starting because, as it takes some time for the roots to develop, the cuts will be susceptible to fungal infection. The compost should be a free draining mixture like a cuttings compost.
So with your secateurs or knife, take the cutting from an upright growing stem.
Choose the healthiest, most vigorous specimen as this is the exact genetic material you’ll be producing from. Long branches can be divided into a number of cuttings and should be no thinner than a pencil. Each cutting should have at least two leaf nodes and be four to six inches long.
The best cuttings will be made from stock that was hard pruned last year as these will be fresh and vigorous. Cut about six inches – the top cut should be sloping just above a bud, the bottom cut straight and just below a bud. Once you have separated the cutting from its parent, it is in danger of drying out so get it potted up as soon as possible. If this isn’t possible, put it in a plastic bag somewhere cold.
Dip the lower end in some rooting hormone powder which will encourage roots to shoot (and it often contains a fungicide to help prevent rotting) and now plant it in your container.
You want about two-thirds of the shoot buried beneath the soil as roots will grow from these underground buds, and then about one-third above soil which will develop leaves in the spring. If you are planting a few, plant four to six inches apart. Gently water using a watering can with a rose attachment so you do not dislodge the cutting.
It’s possible to insert prepared cuttings in a trench in the ground.
For months nothing will happen and a callous will form over the open basal cut, but in spring this is where the roots will emerge from.
Otherwise, leave in a cold frame or unheated greenhouse or somewhere with a bit of shelter, and make sure they don’t dry out.
Now it’s a waiting game of patience. These cuttings will start to develop roots in the spring but don’t think about transplanting them until this time next year. Leave them where they are.
Alternatively, it is possible to insert cuttings in the open ground, but check after frost that they haven’t been disturbed, and firm back in if necessary.