We have been busy taking hardwood cuttings of dogwoods and willows this week, the sorts we grow for their coloured stems for winter colour. We have several different varieties of both at home and in the Winter Garden on the lotties. We hope to plant up the allotment’s car park border with the successful cuttings. The photo below shows just how varied the colours are from yellow and pale green through every shade of orange and red and on to black and violet.
The whispier stems of the willows provided cuttings to strike in a bucket of water – oh so simple.
For the dogwoods and the thicker willow stems we made 9 inch long cuttings of the ubiquitous “pencil thick” stems. These we have dealt with in two ways so it will be interesting to see which turns out the most successful. The first batch we put in compost in a pot.
The second batch we rolled up in a cut strip of an old compost bag with compost on which was then rolled into a swiss roll.
Now we play the waiting game!
greenbenchramblings 