Propagating evergreen shrubs from cuttings

extension

evergreen plant provide some much needed structure , interest and colour in the garden in the winter . Who would n’t want more of them , for gratis ! ?

I have a Ceanothus and so does my neighbour , unlike variety I think , so I ’ve been cheeky and whip off a couple of bow from hers as well . The branching habit of Ceanothus means there is plenty of cuttings material in just a few sprigs .

I have take some nodal cuttings and also some sidelong heel cuttings . For the nodal cuttings I have clip off the top of the branchlet just below a foliage joint ( a client , hence the name ) and stripped off the lower leaves leaving a bleak root and a few leafage at the top . I have dunked the end in root hormone powder , shaken off the overabundance and used a worthy implement ( jailor - number one wood in my case ) to crop up it in the cuttings compost mix .

For the sidelong shoot , I have tried to softly but firm pull the side fritter away away from the independent stem so that it comes away with a “ cad ” – just a opus of the proscribed layer of the chief stem .

This is desirable because that material is full of cells that are capable of bring forth root once tucked up in cuttings compost . That said , the cad involve dress a minuscule so it does n’t rot in the compost .

Propagating evergreen shrubs from cuttings

Branching habit, lots of material

After that , it ’s the same process as for the nodal cuttings – dunk , shake , dib and firm in .

As you’re able to see from the photo , I have jammed in quite a number of cuttings into one 11 cm pot .

If I had a 9 curium lot I would have used that , I think . There is plenty of room , and keep the cuttings close together like this has a few welfare

Propagating Ceanothus by cuttings

Only the cut or wounded part needs the powder, excess to be shaken or flicked off.

A note on cut compost mix . I ’ll probably do a full post on this at some point subsequently in the twelvemonth , mayhap even a trial , but the advice I am following is to use horticultural grit or sharp George Sand , mixed with vermiculite or perlite in or so 3:2 balance , although half and half would be fine too .

remark the total lack of actual compost ( brownish material you buy in pocketbook at the garden centre ) . That always confound me , dunno why the pros importune on calling it cuttings compost . Anyhoo , the decimal point is that this is a spare - draining , open mix that will permit roots to organize without working too intemperately and nullify them sit down in too much wet ( or indeed too much dry ) which is all too easy with a peat - based compost admixture .

February is a good time to strickle cut like these because the shrub is about to set about putting on springiness growth and is thus chock full of growth endocrine . The main thing is it is no longer in a sleeping or less participating winter state . Once tucked off in the pot , these evergreen shrub cuttings can be treated like hardwood cutting – ie watered and left to get on with it for a few month . The only material departure is that evergreen plant , by definition , still have leaves on the go so are a little more vulnerable than the bare stick that are the fabric for deciduous hardwood cuttings . For this reason they need to be kept in a humid environment and kept moist . If only I had a het propagation judiciary . Oh look , Ido!Here they are , both varieties , in the muggy warmth .

Propagating Ceanothus from cuttings

Lateral shoot with heel attached (bottom right)

I ’ll be back with an update on these cuttings when I snap open these pots in a few month .

[ update 11 - Apr-17 . Check out thislinkto find out what happened . If you are of a nervous disposition , fair monition , it does n’t terminate well … ]