I read an article by local garden expert Marianne Binetti 3 years ago about taking cuttings from your shrubs and perennials during the third week in July and I've been doing that ever since. In fact I've been prepping to get ready for that week to make things go a little faster for me. Cleaning out the greenhouse and making room for about 50 or so starts. Getting soil in the pots so I don't have to take my precious cutting and planting time to do that. Just little things to speed up the process.
She says the third week of July is a great time to save some money and make new plants from your favorite shrubs and perennials. Dirt cheap gardeners know most plants can be started from stem, root or leaf cuttings, and the secret to making new plants is to just keep cutting, poking the stems into soil and seeing if they "take" or form roots.
She said her lazy gardening method is to poke the pruning crumbs of freshly trimmed lavender, sage, ueonymous and other perennials with stiff stems directly into the moist soil near the mother plant. She pokes a half dozen stems into the ground and maybe one will survive if she remembers to water. You've got nothing to lose and new plants to gain.
Stem cuttings of shrubs are also easy to make and July is the month to take softwood cuttings of abelia, azaleas, camellia, choisya (Mexican Orange) heather, hydrangea, dogwoods, kerria, mock orange, potentilla, weigela, wisteria and any other shrubby plant that you would like to share or disperse around the garden.
Here are the three easy steps to free plants:
1. Choose a shoot of branch that is soft or pliable. It should be flexible enough to bend and not snap which is why these summer cuttings are called "softwood." Look for branches no thicker than a pencil. Snip off the soft and floppy tip growth from your cutting, leaving a stem about six inches long.
2. Next, strip off the lowest leaves and poke the stem into a pot of rooting medium. Easy-to-root shrubs like hydrangea, willow and forsythia will root if you poke them into the moist potting soil that holds your flowering annuals or perennials. As long as the soil is moist, drains freely and is not being blasted by the hot afternoon sun, the cuttings have a chance to form roots. If you're willing to put in a little more effort, fill a pot with equal parts peat moss, sand and Perlite. The peat moss keeps the mix moist while the Perlite and sand allow for free drainage so air can get to the developing new roots. Insert several cuttings into one pot so the lower half is underground and the top half of the cutting, with at least one pair of leaves, is above the soil level. Remove any leaves that will be covered with the soil, and pinch out any flower buds.
Tip: Most cuttings rot and fail due to fungal infections. Use a clean knife when you take the cuttings and make sure your pots are clean as well. Fresh potting soil or a sterile peat moss and Perlite mix helps banish the fungus.
3. Now you need to keep the rootless cuttings from wilting. Store the pot in a shaded place and keep the soil moist. Mist the foliage if it starts to wilt but do this in the morning so you don't have damp leaves overnight. Some gardeners cover the newly stuck cuttings with a plastic bag (poke a few air holes in the plastic for better air circulation). Shrub cuttings taken this summer should have roots and be ready for transplanting into the garden by next spring.
Dirt Cheap Tip: Professionals use a rooting hormone to increase the odds of their rooting success. Dirt cheap gardeners can use the natural power of willow water. Just cut up sections of willow stems (any type of willow from weeping willow to pussy willow) and soak in a small amount of water. Insert your just-cut stems into this water for 24 hours. Then pot them up and water with the remaining willow water. All willows contain salicylic acid, which is a natural rooting hormone - for free.
Some of the plants I've started are:
Lacecap Hydrangea
Lilac Trees
Weigela
Soapwort
Guara
Mallow
Butterfly Bush
Azalea
Red Valerian
Then I found a variety container I had with some Hens and Chicks and ironically enough there was a small web with drops in front of it. Ok I accept - it might work.
There was the little green leaf with pink trim of my Columbine that actually had some pretty good drops on it. No blooms but some drops - I can work with that.
Then out of the corner of my eye I saw something. Color? I turned my head and actually jolted a little as I hollered 'holy crap' I don't believe this. There was nothing here the day before - or was that two days? Who cares! I was just happy it was there and really happy we don't live close enough to anyone that might be outside watching me over here acting like a bumbling idiot in my stupor of excitement.
My pretty pink Azalea was starting to open up. I finally had something blooming that was bigger than a nickel or better yet larger than a quarter. Oh happy day!
No, not starting to open - by cracky it is open. And it even has a few droplets on it!
