Taking Cuttings: Healthy plants. Strong ecosystem. No money spent.
An apology. I had wanted to follow up my last article on finding oak saplings under the mothertrees with how I propagate all my food-producing woody plants by taking cuttings. I am late with this and hopefully not too late for you to try some of these ideas.
During graduate school, I spent one brief semester in the horticulture department before transferring to botany. Years later, having forgotten most of the biochemistry, agronomy, and taxonomy I found so fascinating, I could not farm, could not support myself and have enough food without that one horticulture course on plant propagation. I learned to create robust and edible plants from hardwood, softwood, and root cuttings. Thirty years later, I make many of my own plants—perfect clones—from my most productive trees, shrubs, vines, vegetables and herbs. I still save seeds from the earliest and latest producers but the vast majority of what I sell, give away, and plant on our land—both in the gardens and the food forest—are from cuttings. And I still use the same textbook. Beyond that, the totality of my tools are rose clippers, the plant material itself, the compost and the garden soil. Unless I replace the garden clippers there are zero expenses. If I sell the plants, I keep one hundred percent of price minus the income tax.
The same branch as the first photo with the leaves cut at the nodes
Vegetative propagation is about creating more plants—sometimes many more plants—from a part of an existing plant. One can make a perfect clone or scores of perfect clones with the roots, shoots, or leaves of common trees, shrubs, berry bushes, flowers, vegetables, herbs... This is possible because all plant parts, every single plant cell—except the floral (reproductive) parts—has all the genetic information in the nucleus to reproduce an entire plant. (Of course, one cannot make a clone with a tree which has been grafted as it is a combination of the trunk of one tree stuck on the roots of another.) Why do I do this? Because I want to grow food plants which are robust and productive in my area. I want to reproduce the success stories. But I also don't want the fertilizer fed plants from the garden center nor do I want to support the huge fertilizer companies—which own the majority of the seed companies—and then ship seeds here with fossil fuel emissions. I love not giving my money to the large companies in the business of making money rather than growing healthy food.
For me, there is only one source, one book: Plant Propagation. Principles and Practices written by Hartmann, Kester, and Davies. It has been the world standard for over 50 years. Every possible technique is examined and the scientific explanations are absolutely clear. I don't doubt that some information on the Internet is very helpful but there is little explanation as to the how and why a specific technique works. And I wanna know how and why as I deal with more unpredictable weather.
What follows is my incredibly simple method (or rather Hartmann, Kester, and Davies method) for taking cuttings from the woody part of a deciduous tree, shrub, or bramble. (There are four types of cuttings: hardwood, semi-hardwood, softwood, and herbaceous. I'll get through them all eventually. This time its just deciduous hardwood.) Early spring is a great time. Basically, I cut off an upright woody stem from a successful plant and stick it in the ground while it is dormant—anytime from late fall through early spring before there is budding or new leaf growth. Or, if I am a little late, I remove all the young buds, leaves and flowers—all the green growth. I put a number of cuttings into one pot (up to ten) or diretly into the soil—a few inches apart—keeping them moist and in at least six hours of sunlight. It will take several months for roots to develop on the shoot.
The object of the game is to take a portion of the stem and grow roots from it. BUT, first the stem must be wounded—yeah, that is the technical term—the bark must be nicked lengthwise, just a little—do not go around the circumference. Instead, remove each node completely, down to where the area is moist and green. That is the area where the new roots or buds will initiate. Provided that the stem has moisture and a degree of warmth, stem cells will rush to the area of the wound to divide and repair the damage. If that part of the stem—which was above the ground—is now nestled in soil with dampness and no light, the undifferentiated cells will know to become root cells.
Simply put:
Begin with a healthy plant. The cutting should not be thin and spindly and be of moderate size with the vigor to support the growth of new roots. Do not use tip portions of a shoot as they are low in stored food. Central and basal parts make the best cuttings.
Cut a part of a healthy upright branch—approximately one foot (1/3 of a meter) in length. It may be divided later. The position of the branch will have an effect on the growth so it should be upright. There should be, at least, three nodes. More is preferable. (A node is the bump on the stem from which the buds or leaves originate. Once it is underground it will develop adventitious roots.) Make the basal cut on an angle for maximum surface area for water uptake.
With very sharp, clean clippers, snip off any preliminary budding at the node and actually cut the area flat to the epidermis. (NOTE which direction is up before you cut as it will be difficult to differentiate top from bottom afterward.)
Place two-thirds of the stem into any growing medium or directly into the soil, leaving 1/3 above the ground. I prefer to use my own garden soil which Irun through a sieve until it is very fine. (Actually, I use an old grocery crate with small openings) I place up to ten cuttings in one pot. But if I am placing them directly into a bed, I leave four inches between each cutting. I firm up the soil around each cutting.
The cuttings should remain in the amount of light the plant would normally want. Keep them well watered.
The times for root initials to develop after cuttings are placed in the bed varies widely. Visible roots take at least ten days to three weeks.
Instructions often say to use rooting hormone or a weak honey solution. I have never done that but then I have about a 50% success rate. This means that I take twice as many cuttings as I will need/want. As I take hundreds of cuttings in the fall, I am pretty profligate with the plant material and am happy with those odds.
If I place the cuttings in the ground, I will leave them for a season. if they develop a great deal of new growth I move them to a pot; . Because the hardwood cuttings are from dormant plants I keep them outdoors all late winter and early spring. But I keep them watered. Any cuttings I take now and place directly in the ground will be moved to their permanent location in the fall. Numerous cuttings placed in a pot will need to be separated once the roots begin to emerge at the bottom on the pot.
My primary motivation in taking for taking cuttings was to be able to sell plants with no expenses. It simply made financial sense. However, it was very obvious that my clones were superior to anything I could buy and I jump start months of growth over any seeds I might sow. Now, our winds are powerful and frequent and increasing in intensity each year. I am placing more trees behind the gardens on the northwest to lessen the effects of storms and I am ringing the gardens with bay laurels which are not just lovely to look at but great windblocks and screening. Along the fences I am planting hedges of very spiny blackberries and raspberries to discourage any wolves, deer or foxes from jumping over. They are also a terrific summertime treat. All from cuttings. I am less enamoured with planting orchards and more often keen on planting trees within all the gardens as windblocks, bird housing (which takes care of many of my plant pests), and a more balanced ecosystem.
More importantly, taking a cutting from a successful tree or shurb in my area is part of living sustainably and (hopefully) encouraging future ecosystem vigour. Creating many cutting allows me to share my riches with my community, encouraging them to do the same. But if you need to purchase plants or seeds to start your garden, go to a local source, a locally-owned business, and inquire as to the hardiness of the plants or seeds before you buy. Better yet, see if your neighborhood has a seed lending library.
© www.thesubversivefarmer.com April 2025
In a previous lifetime, Zia Gallina worked as a botanist for the National Parks Service, on the C&O Canal outside of Washington D.C. (lecturing on wild indigenous and naturalized medicinal and culinary plants). She was also an adjunct professor teaching biology and environmental science at American University, Washington D.C. But she has always been a champion of small-scale biointensive farming, tagging along behind Mother Nature, trying to stay as close as she can get.
