Hardwood cuttings are one of the easiest ways to take cuttings and can be done without the need for special tools or compost.
You will need:
- Cutting material eg. Redcurrant or blackcurrant bush
- A pair of secateurs
- Gloves
- A space in the garden to dig a trench to grow the cuttings on or deep pots of multi-purpose compost.
Good plants to try are all the soft fruit bushes. Cut a straight stem of this year’s wood about 30cm long. Cut the stem off with a straight cut just below a bud.
To prepare the cutting keep in mind which way up it grows as it can be easy to mix up lots of bare stems.
Redcurrants- remove all the buds up the stem but leave the tip buds.
Gooseberries-remove all the buds and thorns but leave the tip buds.
Blackcurrants- Leave all the buds on the cutting and cut the top at a slant so you can tell which way up to plant the cutting. Each stem will give you a new plant so choose accordingly.
Dig a trench in the soil approx. 25cm deep and wide enough to fit the cuttings in.
The cuttings can then be inserted into the trench and the trench filled in so that only the very top 5cm of the cutting are showing above ground. Firm them in well. Deep planting stops the cuttings drying out. After a frosty spell it’s a good idea to re-firm the cuttings in the ground in case the frost has lifted them.
The cuttings will take up to a year to root but just leave them in situ till then. If you don’t have any space in the ground you can do the same process in a deep pot of compost or dig out below a cold frame and plant them in there.
Can also take hardwood cuttings of: Dogwoods (Cornus), shrub roses, Viburnum and Physocarpus are good examples, but there’s little to lose by experimenting with almost anything. Spirea, Forsythia, Hydrangeas, Deutzias and Weigela are also good. Elders, white poplar and willows are the best trees to try.
