It’s time to take evergreen cuttings

Provide them with a little base heat and you’ll soon have more free plants

If you have a heated propagator that provides gentle base heat, now’s a good time to take cuttings from several types of evergreens, such as holly, euonymus, senecio, hebe and Viburnum tinus. These are all good, reliable garden shrubs that have attractive foliage and flowers at various times of the year, and they’re great for adding structure to the garden. Cuttings can be taken from now until around the end of February, and with all of them you take them as nodal cuttings. The length of the cuttings will vary depending on the size and vigour of the stems, but ideally aim to produce cuttings around 7.5cm (3in) long.

Select last season’s growth using the tips of healthy shoots and insert them into a rooting mix of multi-purpose compost and Perlite or Vermiculite. This will retain moisture around the cuttings but allow drainage and air movement. To root, the cuttings need base heat from a propagator, but it doesn’t matter if the tops of the cuttings are cold. If stood on a sand bed with soil-warming cables or in a propagator in a greenhouse, the base of the cuttings will get enough heat. Foliage can be misted regularly or covered with thin polythene to retain humidity. Roots develop in around eight weeks.