Easy cuttings??

choille

Clematis can be layered. Fill a pot with compost and place it on the ground with a piece of stem pegged onto the soil. They put down roots. Sometimes looking near the base of established plants you find some that have done this on their own accord - voila - just gently lift the newly rooted plant & plant in your garden. Clemitis likes it's feet in the shade & head in the sun - when I've planted it - I place a flat stone across the roots.

brownfrog

Don't despair of your clematis or fuchsia yet - they often die back and shoot from the ground. It's always worth leaving things for at least a year to see if they survive. Fuchsias are quite cheap - you can usually get them for under a pound. If it's a special one, try the British Fuchsia Society website and see if there's a fuchsia society near you that might be able to tell you where to get it. Also try the websites of specialist nurseries like the Duchy of Cornwall one.

As for the other plants - just snip off a bit and see how you go. I root most of mine in water - I make floats from sections of milk cartons that I burn holes in and float them on the water. As Choille says, some plants can be layered - as well as clematis, jasmine, ivy, honeysuckle and chocolate vine are usually easy to do this with. You can also take rooted cuttings of many plants such as delphininums or peonies - just dig down a bit on the edge of the plant and see if you can spot any outer shoots that have a few roots on them already. You can also take root cuttings of some plants, such as poppies - just cut off a root, cut it into bits and put them the right side up in some compost (some people suggest cutting them with a straight cut on the 'down' site and a slanted cut on the 'up' side if you're doing a lot).

Have a look round your own garden and see if you can spot anything that's seeded or rooted on its own. Also, if you can make a list of what you've got already, we could probably give you more exact advice about what you can do with each one.

boo80

Ooh, I'm going to try that with my mums clematis, thanks Choille!

I kept thinking it would come back Brownfrog but have just about given up now. It's nice to hear there is still hope! I can't believe fuchsas are only £1, I paid £6.99 for mine and that seems pretty standard!!

My oriental poppies had loads of babies so split them up a month or 2 ago and now have lots of them. I love my rhododendron, is there a way to get another one off of that? Would be nice out the front... My penstemon looks like it has just had babies? There are new stems around the bottom, could just be new growth? I'm a keen gardener but not very knowledgable to say the least! Thanks so much for the help!

illusio

If you want a whole load of fuchsias (LOVE them, will be aiming to fill the garden with them!) then you could try something like this from Ebay (15 plug plants, £9.99), or I've even seen a listing for 84 fuchsia plugs.
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/15-HARDY-FUCHSIA-PLUG-PLANTS-FOR-9-99-POSTAGE-FREE_W0QQitemZ350197912274QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_HomeGarden_Garden_PlantsSeedsBulbs_JN?hash=item350197912274&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=66%3A4%7C65%3A16%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318%7C301%3A1%7C293%3A1%7C294%3A200
Ceanothus tend to do OK when taking cuttings (July time), about 50% success rate when I did it first time, so seemed OK for a complete numpty.

serena

Your penstemon will be making new shoots from the old wood. I always cut down the hard old stems in April, so it gives me masses of flowers later in the year. You cna take these new shhots as cuttings, although I'd be tempted to let them get a little firmer, as they wilt like crazy!

Penstemons are very easy to root from cuttings, and I often take them. I root in a 50/50 mixture of multi purpose compost and either sharp sand or perlite. Pop the cuttings around the edge of the pot, and place in a closed cold frame in not too sunny a spot (or they'll cook!) You can also use one of the small unheated propagators (a seed tray with a plastic top, usually very cheap) instead, but root the cuttings in separate pots, don't fill the bottom of the tray - then you can take them out when they're rooted without disturbing ones that are not ready yet. If you can buy 3" square pots, then 15 fit exactly into a standard seed tray, and each can hold quite a few cuttings.

I feel that I should warn you that propagating is very addictive, and you'll soon find yourself looking at new plants with a view to how many you can get if you split it...and taking extra cuttings of everything, whether you need it or not!

brownfrog

boo80 wrote: »

Ooh, I'm going to try that with my mums clematis, thanks Choille!

I kept thinking it would come back Brownfrog but have just about given up now. It's nice to hear there is still hope!

I've just had a camellia reshoot after sitting in the 'graveyard' for nearly 2 years. I usually leave everything for at least a year, then if there's nothing apparently happening, I dig it up and check the roots. If they look healthy (i.e. sort of rubbery and whitish as opposed to brittle and brown), I shove it in a pot for another year.

boo80 wrote: »

I can't believe fuchsas are only £1, I paid £6.99 for mine and that seems pretty standard!!

:eek: Y'what?? Don't go back there again! I have never paid more than £3, and that was for a big, well-grown one as a present.

illusio wrote: »

If you want a whole load of fuchsias (LOVE them, will be aiming to fill the garden with them!) then you could try something like this from Ebay (15 plug plants, £9.99), or I've even seen a listing for 84 fuchsia plugs.

Me too! They're very addictive once you start. I always buy plug plants if I want new varieties, and usually off eBay. Can recommend Roden Nurseries on eBay - I paid around a fiver for 6 named varieties, which came as really well-grown, bushy plugs with labels. Otherwise, I buy them in garden centres when they're selling them cheap as 'basket plants'. The centres assume that you'll chuck these out as soon as they've finished flowering so they charge very little, but fuchsias are shrubs and should last years - they just need cutting down every winter and possibly some protection, depending on where you live. If they're not hardy, then either take them indoors or cover them up - even with the frost this year, I lost only a few of mine (interestingly, mainly the so-called 'hardy' varieties, whereas a load of 'tender' basket ones sailed through the winter).

Mercy

Busy lizzies are easy. From 1 or 2 plants bought now you could have 10 by beginning of June They will fill up the darker area without complaint. If come Autumn you pick your favourite(s) they can be kept as house plants and will flower indoors till just before xmas. Treat these well and you have the fresh cuttings for next years space fillers.

I do this every year with a posh dark leaved, salmon coloured on and it's still going after 4 years of this treatment. Well I say 'it' bits of it are still going:rotfl:

Mx