How to propagate plants

DIVIDING PLANTS

Supples for diving plants: shovel garden pliers, garden spade

Dig the plant up when the flowers have faded.

Shake the soil from the roots.

Break the plant into several pieces. The divisions should follow fairly natural points on the plant (between leaves). The important thing is to make sure each divided piece has shoots and roots on it.

Once plant has been divided into equal amounts. Trim them so that they are ready to be replanted.

Trim the leaf load by half because the roots have been damaged.

Here is an example of the plant been divided and trimmed, ready to be replanted.

Replant each piece in good soil in a pot or sheltered garden bed and water thoroughly.

LEAF CUTTINGS

Supples for leaf cuttings: garden pliers, garden spade

Select a suitable pot for your cutting. You might want to use a normal-sized flower pot for one plant or you can even have a number of cuttings in the same pot, planted apart from each other.

Cut a firm, young shoot from the current season's growth. Cut it off just below a leaf or joint.

Once cuttings have been prepared you then insert the cutting into the pot.

STEM CUTTINGS

Supples for cuttings: garden pliers, garden spade, rooting hormone

Cut off a piece of the geranium (plant).

Trim cuttings and drip in rooting hormone to give it a boost on growing.

Plant cuttings into pot.

After a few weeks you should start to see some growth occurring.

Mound (stool) layering-

Supples for mound layering: garden pliers, garden spade

Cut the plant back to 1 inch above the soil surface in the winter season. Winter buds will produce new shoots in the spring.

Mound soil over the new shoots as they grow.Roots will develop at the bases of the young shoots.

Remove the layers in the dormant season. Mound layering works well on apple rootstocks, spirea, quince, daphne, magnolia, and cotoneaster.

Handiest tips:Some people dip the cuttings ends into a "rooting hormone". It adds a bit more expense, but its growth promoting elements give the cuttings a better start. Available at gardening stores.