Save money by taking hardwood cuttings
The best way to extend your plant stock of perennial plants is by taking hardwood cuttings. This can be done between November and February when the plant is in its dormant phase of its annual cycle. Taking hardwood cuttings is usually more successful than taking cuttings from soft-stemmed plants. It is quick and easy to do and allows you to have more of the favourite flowering plants that you love in your garden when you follow our simple steps.
Popular plants that are ideal to make more of by taking hardwood cuttings
Here are some of the nation's most popular hardwood plants that you can take cuttings from to make even more to plant yourself, or to share with your friends and neighbours:
- Deciduous shrubs include: Abelia, Buddleja (butterfly bush), Philadelphus, Symphoricarpos and roses
- Fruiting plants include: Figs, black, red and white currants, mulberry and gooseberries
- Trees include: Plane, willows and poplars
How taking a hardwood cutting is done
Many gardeners like to take hardwood cuttings and grow them outdoors in a trench, or if you are only taking a few they can be grown in containers. You must select healthy shoots that have grown this year through the summer. You should be looking for stems that are around the thickness of a pencil and looking to cut just above a bud to encourage new growth at the top of the cutting. This cut should be slanted to encourage rainwater to roll off and not cause rot. The base cut should be straight, just below a bud. The hardwood cuttings should be between 15cm and 30cm in length. Any top material should be discarded.
How planting a hardwood cutting the right way will guarantee success
When you have taken your hardwood cuttings in the correct manner they will now be ready for planting. If you are putting them directly in the garden then you will need to dig in a bucket full of good quality garden compost every other meter and fill the trench with a layer of sand at the bottom for good drainage. Cuttings compost can be used for cuttings that will be planted in containers. The cuttings should be dipped in rooting powder hormone and inserted into the soil two thirds deep with a few buds left on the stem to encourage spring growth. The hardwood cuttings should be left in the ground until the following autumn, and watered during the hot summer months.
Taking hardwood cuttings could save you money on gift giving
Instead of buying a plant at your local garden centre, imagine how special the plant would be if it had been grown yourself? Garden centres can supply you with cuttings compost and the good fertilisers that you will need to give your hardwood cuttings the best possible start. You could choose from a wide range of ceramic and terracotta pots that are available for purchase at garden centres to make the gift even more special.
