If it is too cold, wet and miserable to do anything meaningful in the garden, or if you have food to prepare, it is handy to have a small, simple job that is easy to do and doesn’t involve paddling about in mud. Making new plants for the garden or to give to friends is a positive and exciting challenge. One of the easiest ways to propagate new shrubs is by taking hardwood cuttings.
Not all shrubs can be propagated this way but it is worth trying. The traditional subjects are coloured-stem cornus such as Cornus alba (above), willows, forsythia, elders, ribes including both flowering currants and fruiting types, gooseberries, buddleias, privet, deciduous viburnums, weigela and philadelphus. You can also try roses and some common evergreens.
The key point is that you need strong, ideally straight, one-year shoots to take as cuttings. Old, twisted and slow-grown stems do not root well. Hardwood cuttings take a year from when you take the cuttings to when you can plant them out as new plants. But they are easy to take and they need no special facilities – you can root them in deep pots or in the garden border.
If rooting in the garden, it is best to fork in some sand or grit, especially if the soil is heavy clay. If rooting in pots it is best to use long, narrow pots about 20cm deep. Fill them with a mix of multipurpose compost and sand or perlite.
When you have prepared your cuttings they will be about 25-35cm long and they need to be inserted so that about two-thirds is below the soil surface.
Trim the base of the cuttings just below a node (where the leaves were attached and where there may be one or two buds). You can also scrape away some of the bark from one side for a few centimetres which can help rooting.
Trim the top of the cutting immediately above a node to make the cutting the correct length and to remove any foliage and soft shoot tip that would otherwise wilt and die.
Then insert several cuttings into a deep pot
Then place the pot in a sheltered spot outside or in a cold greenhouse and keep the compost moist. In spring there should be new growth from the upper part of the stem and as this is produced, roots will be growing underground. The new roots will be delicate so the cuttings must not be disturbed until autumn as the plants become dormant.
Winter potplants
Remember that all Christmas potplants should last for many weeks.
Poinsettias need warmth and a bright spot. Never let them dry out but also do not let them is in a puddle of cold water.
Cyclamen like a bright, cool spot, even on a sunny windowsill. Water them from below so that water does no collect between the leaf stalks. It will not harm them if they dry out a little.
Hyacinths are lovely to have in the house but they do not last long unless they are in a cold room. Do not let them dry out or the flowers will age prematurely
Hippeastrum can be bought now in bud. Keep them in a cool room in a bright spot. Too much warmth and a dark spot will make the flower stems tall and unstable