ALTHOUGH SPRING may seem to be a more appropriate
season in which to schedule reproductive exercises, mid-
summer has its moments.

This may well be the best time

of year to strike a stem cutting
from one of your favorite plants.

On the off chance you don't
know what in Hades I’m talking
about, a stem cutting is a preferred
method of propagation for many
varieties of popular garden plants.

Common examples from which
stem cuttings can be taken are red
geraniums (pelargoniums) and
chrysanthemums.

Even plants such as hydrangeas
and rhododendrons are usually
propagated or multiplied in this
fashion.

- There are three main types of
stem cuttings, hardwood, semi-
hardwood, and. softwood. Hard-
wood cuttings generally refer to
‘those that are taken from seasoned
or mature growth. These are usual-
ly taken in fall‘or winter.

‘ Semi-hardwood cuttings are
those from half-ripened wood
taken during summer and early
fall. While softwood cuttings can
mean either the fresh immature
growth of spring or those taken
from herbaceous plants such as the
geranium.

There are no fixed dates when

‘the taking of these various woods

begins and ends; the times simply
merge into one another. ,

I suggest you spend a little time
with books, researching the most
appropriate time to strike a cutting
from your particular subject.

over the
garden gate

Geoff nears,

There are many good books of-
fering detailed help for most of the
common varieties.

You ‘may be one of those North
Shore gardeners who are preoc-
cupied with the term ‘‘low
Maintenance gardening’’. The
most that I can hope to do here is

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generate a little enthusiasm and in-
spire you to give it a try.

I'll give you a couple of com-
mon examples where the practice
of home parenting in the garden
makes good sense.

Let’s say you have an English
laurel hedge surrounding part of
your property and you wish to ex-
tend it for another 50 feet. Assum-
ing that ‘you plant new plants three
feet apart, you will require 17
plants to do the job.

You could run to the garden
centre (after running to the bank
for a second mortgage) and pur-
chase 17 shiny new #1 pot size
plants. At approximately $5 each,
your landed cost (including tax and
delivery) would be in the
neighborhood of $100.

Or you may try cutting 10 to 12
inches off 35 stems of your existing
laurel in early to mid-September.
Now remove the leaves from all.
but four to six inches from the tips
and dust the lower end with a
rooting hormone for hardwoods.

Dig 17 evenly spaced holes along
the length of your proposed new
addition. Set two of your cuttings
into each hole so that the lowest of
the remaining leaves is one inch
above ground.

We double up here in order to
ensure no blanks in the hedge
should one cutting not take.

Fill in around the cuttings with a
soil that contains at Jeast 50 per
cent organic material (compost or

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27 - Friday, July 29, 1988 — North Shore News

fe.

peat). This will help to keep the
soil moist between regular applica-
tions of water.

You spent less than $5 for the
rooting hormone (and you still
have most of that left) leaving you
a savings of $95.

If you assume a maximum of
one half hour extra time over and
above what was needed to buy the
plants, you’re making $190 per
hour. If you don’t want the job,
I'll take it.

‘Or perhaps you would like to
plant 50 red geraniums around the
house next year. Take some cut-
tings next February from plants
you saved this fall. You couid save
yourself $100 by spending two

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hours of time and nursing a few
plants on the basement windowsill
during the winter.

Or let’s say Mrs. Rootweavil
down the road has a lovely plant
that you just can’t seem to identify
or find at any of the garden cen-
tres.

You know it would look great in
your yard, but, even if it did have
legs, she wouldn’t let it stroll on
down to your place.
Experiment; with her permission
of course. Take a few cuttings at
different stages of its development
and try rooting them in different
ways. Eventually you are likely to
succeed, and if not, you had fun
trying.

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