A foolproof way to fill the gaps in your garden – for free
EVERYONE knows that filling your garden with new plants from the garden centre can be a costly business. However, there’s a clever way of plugging gaps in beds and borders that won’t set you back a single penny if you own the right tools and bits of equipment.
I’m referring, of course, to making your own plants for free from cuttings. Some people think that taking cuttings is a complicated business that’s best left to skilled horticulturists. It’s true that some methods of propagation require a deft touch, a lifetime of practice and specialist kit, but not cuttings taken from midsummer until early autumn. In my opinion, they are almost foolproof.
Nurserymen call these ‘semi-ripe cuttings’, because shoots are fairly firm or ‘ripe’. You can take cuttings from a wide range of evergreen trees, shrubs and climbers, including holly, choisya, cistus, lavender, passion flower and star jasmine. Those wanting lots of plants to establish a new hedge can use the technique to propagate box, privet and shrubby honeysuckle (Lonicera nitida).
And taking cuttings doesn’t require any fancy equipment. All you need is a pair of secateurs or a gardening knife, along with some peat-free, multi-purpose compost, perlite, labels and a few 6in pots. A plastic bag will be needed to collect material, and a heated windowsill propagator is desirable but not essential. It’s best to gather material early in the morning when stems are full of water, which means they won’t wilt as quickly once cut. Select healthy, young shoots close to the top of plants, avoiding older, woodier growth or shoots bearing flowers. Place the material inside a damp bag, shake, knot the top and transport to a shady spot.
Place a shoot on a chopping board and make a straight cut beneath a leaf joint, aiming to leave a cutting that’s 3in to 4in long. Remove leaves from the bottom third and snip out shoot tips if they are soft and sappy.
Fill a pot with a 50-50 mix of peat-free, multi-purpose compost and perlite. Make some holes around the outside with a pencil and insert a cutting into each, firming with your fingers. Label, water gently and place inside a propagator. If you don’t have one, cover with a clear plastic bag held by an elastic band.
A hard white material known as callous will soon seal the cut end, followed by the production of roots. Remove the pot from the propagator once the cuttings are well rooted, which can take three weeks or more. Check by giving them a gentle tug every now or then to see if they are anchored.
Allow cuttings to develop for a few weeks before gently breaking open the root ball and potting up young plants individually into 3in pots filled with peat-free compost. Place them in a light, frostfree place over winter and move into larger pots in early spring.
The plants will be ready to go into the ground from mid to late spring.