What Is Hardwood Cutting

Cut off the top of the branch so that there are at least two additional leafbuds above the bottom leafbud.

What is hardwood cutting. Winter is the time for taking hardwood cuttings. It s relatively easy and will save you a lot of money. Softwood semi hardwood and hardwood depending on the growth stage of the plant. Exactly what is a semi hardwood cutting.

Hardwood cuttings are used most often for deciduous shrubs but can be used for many evergreens. For home gardeners there are three primary types of cuttings. Cuttings can be taken from the soft wood the semi hardwood or the hardwood parts of the plant. However semi hardwood cuttings take longer to form roots.

Some evergreen plants hollies for example can also be taken at the same time of year as other hardwood cuttings. Wood is called semi hardwood when it is not soft and new but is not quite old enough to be hard and woody. The three types of hardwood cuttings are straight mallet and heel. Hardwood cuttings are even simpler to prepare than softwood or herbaceous cuttings as we use cuttings from dormant deciduous trees and woody plants and this technique is very useful for propagating fruit trees such as figs pomegranates mulberries and quince.

A plant cutting is a piece of a plant that is used in horticulture for vegetative asexual propagation a piece of the stem or root of the source plant is placed in a suitable medium such as moist soil if the conditions are suitable the plant piece will begin to grow as a new plant independent of the parent a process known as striking a stem cutting produces new roots and a root cutting. Examples of plants propagated at the hardwood stage include forsythia privet fig grape and spirea. Heel cutting a cutting taken with a portion of the bark or mature wood at the base. The plant material is between the softwood and woody stage.

Hardwood cutting a cutting taken from the mature wood of both deciduous and evergreen plants at the end of the growing season. A similar method to that used to take softwood cuttings is used for semi hardwood cuttings. Take hardwood cuttings from deciduous shrubs and vines see the suggested plant list in the fall after leaf drop and before the ground is frozen. Cut off a hardwood cutting that is 12 to 48 30 122 cm inches long.

Click on the following article to learn the basics of semi hardwood propagation. Hardwood cuttings provide an easy and reliable method of propagating a range of deciduous climbers trees and shrubs and as bonus they are taken from mid autumn until late winter when more time is usually available to the gardener. Trim the end of the cutting to be planted just below where a leafbud grows on the branch.