Question 1

How do you take a cutting, and what are the different types?

Accepted Answer

By removing a piece of stem and inducing it to produce roots — and the type of cutting is determined by **how mature the wood is**, which in turn determines when you take it and how you treat it.

**Why it works.** Many plants can regenerate an entire plant from a stem section, because cells near the cut can dedifferentiate and form roots. The resulting plant is a **clone**, genetically identical to the parent — which is why cuttings are used for named cultivars that would not come true from seed.

**Softwood cuttings.** Taken in **late spring to early summer** from the current season's soft, flexible growth.

**Fastest to root**, and the **most likely to wilt** — the soft material has no reserves and loses water rapidly, so they need high humidity, a propagator or a covered environment, and speed between cutting and potting.

**Semi-ripe cuttings.** Taken in **mid to late summer**, when the base of the current season's growth has begun to firm while the tip is still soft. More robust than softwood, slower to root, and suitable for many shrubs and evergreens.

**Hardwood cuttings.** Taken in **autumn to winter** from fully dormant, woody stems. The easiest and least demanding — simply inserted into a trench or a pot outdoors and left, with no humidity control required. Slow, taking months, and ideal for currants, willows, roses and many deciduous shrubs.

**Root cuttings** and **leaf cuttings** apply to specific plants.

**The method, in outline:**

**Take material in the morning** from healthy, non-flowering shoots.

**Cut just below a node**, where rooting hormones concentrate naturally.

**Remove the lower leaves** and reduce remaining leaf area by half on large leaves, to limit water loss.

**Rooting hormone** helps for difficult subjects and is unnecessary for easy ones.

**Insert into free-draining compost** — gritty, low in nutrients, since roots seek nutrients rather than sitting in them.

**Keep humid and out of direct sun**, and do not let the compost dry or become waterlogged.

**Resist pulling them up** to check.

**Plant Breeders' Rights** may prohibit propagating protected cultivars for distribution.

Question 2

What is a rootstock and why does it matter for fruit trees?

Accepted Answer

A rootstock is the root system a fruit tree is grafted onto. The scion — the variety you actually want, such as a Cox or a Bramley — is joined to it, and the rootstock determines much of how the tree

Question 3

What does pruning actually do to a plant?

Accepted Answer

It redirects growth rather than simply removing material — and understanding the mechanism is what turns pruning from guesswork into something predictable. The central principle: apical dominance.

Question 4

What is grafting, and how does it work?

Accepted Answer

Joining part of one plant onto another so they grow as a single individual — the scion supplying the top growth and the rootstock supplying the roots. It works because plants can heal a wound between

Question 5

What actually makes cut flowers last longer?

Accepted Answer

Three things kill cut flowers, and each has a straightforward countermeasure — most of the folk remedies address only one of them, which is why they help a little and no more. The three causes of

Question 6

What is the difference between a plug plant, a seedling and a potted plant?

Accepted Answer

Size and stage of development, which determine the price, how much care they need, and how soon they will do anything. Seeds. Cheapest by a wide margin, greatest choice of varieties, and the most

Question 7

What is a bare root plant, and when should you plant one?

Accepted Answer

A plant lifted from the ground during dormancy and sold without any soil around its roots — cheaper, frequently establishing better than a potted equivalent, and available only for a few months a

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