Carol Klein is taking cu ings to get more plants from tap-rooted perennials
Make more plants from Oriental poppies, acanthus, anchusa and many other tap-rooted perennials
Far from being a time for us gardeners to put our feet up, winter can be one of the busiest and most productive times. It’s time to cut back last year’s growth, piling it high on compost heaps. There's winter pruning to be done, both of ornamental shrubs including roses and of fruit; soft fruit, blackcurrants, gooseberries, autumn-flowering raspberries and apples and pears. There are plants to divide, moving and replanting to be done while plants are dormant.
Propagation is an integral part of gardening. Not only do we get the bonus of creating more plants for free but it's also an excellent way of getting to know our plants more intimately.
There's one form of propagation in particular that's best undertaken at this time of the year. It's easy and straightforward yet many gardeners shy away from it, perhaps believing it must demand special expertise. But root cuttings are simple and rewarding and there's very little that can go wrong!
Among several large patches of snowdrops, galanthus ‘Atkinsii’, in a long raised bed towards the bottom of the garden, there's a lone plant of Crambe cordifolia. It's virtually invisible now, though by midsummer, when the snowdrops have disappeared from view, it will have grown to gigantic proportions.
A member of the cabbage family, its leaves are huge and, in a good year, from the centre of the clump spring several sturdy stems, branching as they grow and eventually bearing hundreds of tiny white flowers with a honeyed scent.
At this stage it's airy and ephemeral. Under the ground though it's a different story, with thick tap roots pushing themselves into the ground.
Although theoretically it can be reproduced from seed, we've never been able to germinate the few sparse seeds it has set here. But it's a prime candidate for root cuttings.
When you're taking root cuttings, there's no need to dig up the whole plant. Gently excavating around the roots on one side, it’s usually possible to expose a few strong roots and to follow them down deep into the soil. The roots can be severed with a sharp knife, replacing the soil carefully.
It's vital the cuttings go into their tray or pot the right way up but there's a lot of fuss made about making different kinds of cuts to distinguish one end from the other. As long as you keep the end which was closest to the crown of the plant uppermost, all will be well. Having first prepared a tray of open, gritty compost, roots can be cut into sections between one and two inches long and pushed into the compost up to their hilt so the top of the cutting is flush with the compost.
You can try this method yourself to make more Oriental poppies, acanthus, anchusa and many other tap-rooted perennials. Have a go!
'It's easy and straightforward yet many gardeners shy away from it, perhaps believing it must demand special expertise'