How magical: Stick a piece of wood in the ground and next year it becomes a plant.
That stick is a hardwood cutting, an easy way to multiply some favorite trees, vines and shrubs. They’re called “hardwood” because the pieces are mature and woody rather than young and succulent.
Written content by Lee Reich from Associated Press via Lincoln Journal Star
Not every woody plant will magically take root and start to grow from hardwood cuttings. Expect close to a 100% “take” with plants such as grape, currant, gooseberry, privet, spiraea, and honeysuckle. But don’t even bother trying this method to make new apple, maple or oak trees.
Because they lack leaves, hardwood cuttings are less perishable than “softwood cuttings,” whose leaves can dry rooting stems out before roots form.
If you want to make your thumbs feel greener, try hardwood cuttings of willow, a plant I’ve seen take root from branches inadvertently left on top of the ground through the winter. Most other plants demand a little more finesse.
TAKE THE CUTTINGS
If you’d like to multiply a favorite plant by hardwood cuttings, now is a good time of year to start. Step back and look at the plant, and select some shoots that grew this past season — the youngest shoots. Those most likely to root have moderate vigor; they’re not too fat or too thin for the particular species.
Cut the shoots into manageable lengths of a half-foot or so, the upper cuts just above a swollen node where a leaf was attached, and the lower cuts just below a swollen node. Make sure you remember which end was up (furthest from the root). Professionals do this by cutting the bottoms off squarely and the tops at an angle so the ends are not mixed up during planting. Read more from Lincoln Journal Star.
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