Taking Cuttings - Plants for (almost) Free

Last year I bought some small shrubs called Salvia Hot Lips. I planted them as a group of three but with some warm Winter weather followed by late frosts only one of them survived. Now the survivor has grown a bit - it's time to take some cuttings to grow into new plants to replace the ones I lost.

Cuttings of shrubs can be taken from many plants and turning them into plants for your garden is almost free. If you see a nice plant at a friends house - ask for a cutting and see if you can grow it on.

Plant for taking cuttings
Hormone rooting powder (get this from your garden centre)
Small plant pots or plant tray
Soil / earth / potting compost

Look at the plant your are taking a cutting from and look for a small to medium sized side shoot preferably without any flower buds.
Gently pull the cutting off so that you have a "heel" from where it joined onto the plant

Fill a small pot or if you are taking lots of cutting a plant cell tray with compost.

Gently pull off the lower leaves from your cutting

Make a hole in your compost for the plant to go into - use a dibber or a finger.

Dip the end of the stalk of your cutting into the rooting powder (just about 1cm)

Plant the cutting into your hole and firm gently in place.

Give it some water.

Keep your cutting moist and in a couple of weeks it will start to grow. When it is bigger - pot it into a bigger pot or plant out in your garden.

** Some cuttings take a lot longer then a couple of weeks - but don't despair - if they are still looking green , keep them moist and you'll be surprised when they start to grow.