Cuttings
A cutting is a medium sized piece taken from a plant which, with proper handling could be induced to form roots and then grow into a specimen which is identical to your parent plant. You cannot guess the perfect sort of cutting to take nor the best time to propagate a specimen which is identical to the parent plant. There is, however, a number of general rules. Plant the cutting as soon as possible after cutting it from the parent plant and ensure that your compost is in close contact with the inserted part. Donot keep pulling at the cutting to find out if it's rooted - the appearance of new growth is the best guide.
Softwood cuttings:
They are green at the top and the base, and are taken from early spring to midsummer. Many hardy perennials and some small shrubs are propagated in this way. Basal cuttings are shoots formed at the base of the plant and pulled away (instead of cutting) to be used as softwood cuttings in spring.
Semi-ripe cuttings:
They are green at the top and partly woody at the base, they are usually heel cuttings. Midsummer to early autumn is the usual time and most shrubs, climbers and conifers are propagated using this method.
Hardwood cuttings:
A large number of trees, shrubs, Roses and bush fruits can be propagated in this way. The usual time is late autumn. Choose a well ripened shoot from this years growth.
Roots with soil:
You will never finish stocking your garden as long as you stay a gardener. There will nearly always be more spaces to fill, old plants to renew and new varieties to try. The simplest way to achieve success at planting time is to make use of pot-grown specimens or container-grown plants so as avoiding root disturbance. There will be times, however, when we must rely on lifted plants, such as hardy perennials dug up at the nursery, bedding plants taken out of plastic trays or rooted cuttings separated from others in a propagator. In these cases some root damage is inevitable, and the rules for planting are designed to reduce this shock to a minimum. The leaves will continue to lose water after planting and so it is essential that new roots are produced as quickly as possible to replace the damaged ones. This involves thorough soil preparation, careful lifting and then planting at the right time and in the right way.
Bare-rooted plants:
They are dug up at the nursery and transported without soil, at one time all of our Roses were bought this way. Damp material, such as peat, is packed all around the roots to avoid them from drying out and at no stage should the roots be allowed to become dry. Bare-rooted plants are cheaper than their container-grown counterparts and it is not true that they are always more difficult to establish - some shrubs take root more readily when planted as bare-rooted stock.
Planting time is the dormant season between autumn and spring - choose mid October to November if you can, but delay planting until March when the soil is heavy and cold. Cut off all leaves, dead flowers, thin or damaged stems and broken roots. If the stem is shrivelled plunge the roots into a bucket of water for two hours. Place packing material over the roots until you're prepared to begin planting. If you can't plant straight away, leave the packing material intact and put in a cool but frost-free place. If the delay is going to last more than two or three days, unpack and heel the plants in by digging a V-shaped trench in which the roots are placed and covered.
Author Resource:-
A fantastic period of my time is spent in my garden, but as I am getting older and things have become harder to do. I have decided to make use of a firm called Garden Design London.. So far they have given me all the help and advice that I have asked for. I still do a bit of pottering around my own garden.
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