How to grow new hydrangea shrubs for FREE by taking cuttings
If you have a shrub you love, autumn is often the perfect time to make more of it. All you need are a few healthy stems, a pot of well draining soil, and patience.
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One of the best things about gardening is that you don't have spend money on more plants. If you have a shrub you love, autumn is often the perfect time to make more of it. All you need are a few healthy stems, a pot of well draining soil, and patience.
Growing shrubs and trees from cuttings is much more reliable than starting these from seeds. Cuttings are genetically identical to the plant they came from and they will be ready for the landscape sooner than starting from seed.
Autumn is a great time to create new plants
It may be hard to believe, but spring is not a great time to start cuttings. Although shrubs are entering dormancy now, mature stems root more reliably than new growth & the cooler weather ensures that they.don't dry out.
These mature stems are called hardwood cuttings. These cuttings will spend the winter sitting in that pot doing absolutely nothing, and grow roots in spring. They'll need little to no attention from you!
Let's propagate a hydrangea!
Our talented News12 technical supervisor Dan Kulick has a beautiful panicle hydrangea in his front yard that he wanted to make more of so I took a trip to his garden to do just that!
Panicle hydrangeas (that's the variety with cone shaped flowers often sold as "limelight") are not as easy to propagate as smooth hydrangea (our native species) or big leaf hydrangea (the most common species in our local landscape).
Step 1: Find the Leaf Node
The leaf node is the most important part of taking cuttings. It appears as a small bump or scar on the stem where the leaf attaches. This is the spot on the stem where all new leaf growth happens, but under the right conditions it can change course and grow roots instead!
Think of the node as the plant's growth center. A stem section with several nodes has the potential to become a new plant. A stem section without nodes has little chance of success.
Step 2: How to select a cutting
Choosing a healthy stem that grew during the current season. Bigger is not always better. For hydrangeas, I'll typically select a stem that has about 4 leaf nodes on it. Grab a sharp set of pruners and make a cut just below the leaf node.
Step 3: Cut off the leaves and top of the stem
We do not want our stem to lose water so you have to cut off any leaves or flowers that have not fallen off yet. Cut off the stem just Make the top cut just above a bud and the bottom cut just below a bud or pair of buds. Keep track of which part of the stem is up and which is down. This encourages rooting.
Pro tip: If you'd like, dip the base in rooting powder.
Step 4: Prepare the soil
Use a nice and light potting mix and a small plastic container with plenty of holes in it. I save those 4" pots that my annuals came in during the spring for this purpose. It's important this mix drains well.
Step 5: Bury the bottom of the cutting
Insert the lower half of the cutting into a pot filled with a well-draining propagation mix and water it thoroughly. I like to put two leaf nodes under the soil and leave 1 or 2 leaf nodes poking above the soil. The lower leaf nodes will root. The leaf nodes above the soil will grow new leaves.
Finally ... leave it outside
Place the pot outdoors in a sheltered, shady location. It may need to be watered during dry spells. The soil should never get so dry that it's hard and dusty. Don't bring your hydrangea or other landscape shrubs indoors. Most of these plants require a dormancy period and indoor conditions are not favorable for new growth since homes are typically very dry and dark.
Biggest mistakes
Using stems that are too soft, too small, or too big are common issues. Since roots and shoots typically emerge from nodes, a cutting with no viable nodes or nodes that are very old and no longer active, are not likely to make it.
Some plants are simply poor candidates for this method. Many large shade trees and some conifers can be difficult to root from cuttings.
What landscape plants are easy to grow from cuttings?
The easiest shrubs are usually vigorous growers. If a shrub regularly sends out lots of fresh stems every year, there's a good chance it will respond well to propagation. This includes some favorites like dogwoods, viburnums, roses, hydrangeas, and forsythias.
Trees are more of a mixed bag. A few trees are famously easy like willows. Fig trees are also easy to grow from cuttings (although my luck has been mixed with them). However, oaks, beeches, and so many other large landscape trees are rarely propagated by simple home cuttings. Professional growers often use grafting, seed propagation, or specialized techniques instead.
So while many shrubs are excellent candidates for autumn cuttings, not every tree in the landscape should be approached the same way.
