Propagate from cuttings

THERE are a couple of good reasons to hand your friends and family a piece of your summer garden. You will be giving them happy memories and, if you lose your favourite plant, there will be a free source ready to raid and retrieve.

Shooting starts

Shoots with flowers and flower buds do not make good cuttings.

The best bits come from parts of the plant that are actively growing and exposed to light and especially lateral shoots, or those that grow from a leader.

Potting in the bag

The best time to take cuttings is early in the day when shoots are fully hydrated. Avoid taking cuttings on hot days.

Keep them fresh by popping the cuttings into a plastic bag or, better still, a bowl filled with damp paper towels. The towels will keep

The right cuts

To prepare the cuttings, snip the stems at an angle just below the leaf joint, making them around 7-12cm long.

Push the cuttings to half their length into a pot or tray of compost. A mix of two parts ordinary

muti-purpose compost to one-part sharp sand and one-part grit is ideal because it gives the excellent drainage required for rooting. AVOID perfume when working in the garden at this

it time of year because may attract wasps looking for the smell of ripening

fruit. the cuttings moist and cool until you’re ready to head back inside and pot them up.

Taking root

Use a plastic bag to form a tent over the new cuttings.

Then place the tray or pot on a sheltered windowsill away from direct sunlight.

Some cuttings root faster than others but after four to five weeks there’s every chance that small white roots may start poking out of the drainage holes so they can be potted on individually.