Time to start branching out, says Alan Titchmarsh
WHEN you have a favourite shrub in your garden and you'd like a few spares, there's no need to kit yourself out like a small-scale nursery and spend your leisure time mollycoddling cuttings.
Instead, you should try a very reliable propagation technique known as layering. This method is easy to execute because the parent plant acts as a minder to its own offspring.
Some shrubs will even layer themselves. If you take a look underneath you'll sometimes find young plants you didn't know you had, where a low branch has touched the ground, taken root and turned into a new shrub ready to be dug up.
But deliberate layering is equally foolproof since the mother and pup stay attached to each other by a stemmy umbilical cord until the youngster has found its feet and can fend for itself.
So it really doesn't matter how long it takes for the pup to root, unlike cuttings which tend to wither away in time, especially if you ignore them.
It also means you can produce new rhododendrons, viburnums and clematis plants which are hard to grow from cuttings and pricey to buy as grown plants. If you want to have a go, now is the time. All you need is patience.
Deliberate layering is equally foolproof since the mother and pup stay attached to each other by a stemmy umbilical cord until the youngster has found its feet and can fend for itself.
First off, pick a suitable shoot, which needs to be youngish but fully formed and near the outside edge of the plant. It also needs to be situated so you can bend it down so it lies on the ground for much of its length.
Improve the soil immediately below it by working in plenty of rotted organic matter. If the ground is claggy then add some sharp sand too. Then cut two eight-inch pieces of stiff wire and bend them over in the middle to make a pair of small croquet hoops.
Now you're ready to go. Gently bend your chosen stem over until its centre point can be buried a few inches down in your prepared patch, leaving the far end sticking out of the ground.
Hold the buried bit in place with your croquet hoops. If the branch tries to spring up, try making a small slanting nick in the back, at the point that it'll be buried, and give it a very slight twist.
This has the added benefit of helping to encourage the pieces to root, since their supply line to the parent plant is partly severed, but don't cut more than about a third of the way through the stem.
And that's all there is to it. Keep the area weeded and water your layers if the soil dries out in the summer months.
Come back a year later and, with luck, you'll have a nice young plant ready to be dug up and moved to its new planting place. If it's a slow-rooting type such as rhododendron, give it two years.
For more information on gardening and other subjects go to Alan Titchmarsh's website: www.alantitchmarsh.com
