Taking cuttings: softwood, semi-ripe and hardwood

Taking cuttings is the easiest way to get more of the plants you already grow, at no cost. Cut a healthy, non-flowering shoot, trim it just below a leaf joint, remove the lower leaves and push it into a gritty compost. Spring is the season for soft tip cuttings of plants like fuchsias and penstemons, late summer for semi-ripe cuttings of shrubs such as lavender and rosemary, and late autumn to winter for hardwood cuttings of dogwoods, currants and roses. Most root within a few weeks to a few months.

Every cutting is a genetic copy of its parent, so you get exactly the same flower colour, leaf and habit. That is the big advantage over seed, which can vary.

Which type of cutting, and when

Type	When (UK)	Shoot	Good plants to try
Softwood	April to early July	Soft, green, bendy new growth	Fuchsia, penstemon, salvia, hydrangea, mint
Semi-ripe	Late July to September	Firm at the base, soft at the tip	Lavender, rosemary, hebe, box, escallonia, choisya
Hardwood	Late October to February	Fully woody, leafless (deciduous)	Dogwood, forsythia, weigela, buddleja, blackcurrant, rose
Root	December to February	Pencil-thick roots of dormant plants	Oriental poppy, phlox, Japanese anemone

The exact month varies a little with the season and where you live. If a shoot snaps cleanly when bent, it is too ripe for softwood; if it bends without resistance, it is too soft for semi-ripe.

Before you start

Pick healthy parents. Only take cuttings from vigorous, pest-free plants. Viruses travel in every cutting you take, so never propagate from plants with mottled or distorted leaves, a common sign of plant viruses. With blackcurrants, avoid any bush with swollen, round buds, as these harbour big bud mite.

Prepare compost. A free-draining mix works best. Use a bought cuttings compost or mix multipurpose compost with an equal amount of perlite or horticultural grit. Rich compost and wet conditions cause cuttings to rot.

Keep everything clean. Wipe blades and wash pots. Rot and grey mould are the main reasons cuttings fail.

Collect in the morning. Shoots are full of water early in the day. Put them straight into a plastic bag in the shade, and prepare them within an hour or two.

Softwood cuttings

Softwood cuttings root fastest but wilt quickly, so they need warmth and humidity.

Cut shoots 8 to 10 cm long from the tips of non-flowering stems.
Trim each one just below a leaf joint, where the rooting hormones naturally gather.
Remove the leaves from the lower half. Pinch out any flower buds at the tip.
Dip the base in rooting hormone if you like; it helps trickier plants but most root without it.
Make holes with a dibber around the edge of a pot and insert the cuttings so the leaves just clear the compost. Five or six fit in a 9 cm pot.
Water gently, label, and cover with a clear plastic bag held off the leaves by a couple of canes, or put the pot in a propagator.
Stand in a bright spot out of direct sun at around 15 to 20°C. A north-facing windowsill or a shaded greenhouse bench is ideal.

Air the bag every few days and remove any fallen or mouldy leaves. Most softwood cuttings of hardy fuchsia, penstemon and hydrangea root within three to six weeks. Gentle new growth at the tip is the first sign.

Mint is even simpler: stand a few shoot tips in a glass of water on the windowsill and roots appear within a week or two.

Semi-ripe cuttings

Semi-ripe cuttings are made from this year’s growth once the base has begun to firm up, and they are less prone to wilting. They suit many evergreen shrubs.

Take shoots 10 to 15 cm long, cutting below a leaf joint. Alternatively, pull off a side shoot with a sliver of the main stem, known as a heel, which roots well in plants like rosemary and lavender.
Strip the lower leaves. On large-leaved plants, cut the remaining leaves in half to reduce water loss.
Insert into gritty compost in pots, or in a cold frame.
Keep them in a cold frame, unheated greenhouse or sheltered spot out of direct sun. A plastic cover helps in the first few weeks but is less essential than for softwood.

Semi-ripe cuttings root over several weeks to a couple of months. Leave them where they are over winter and pot them up individually in spring. Hebes, box and Mexican orange blossom are reliable choices for a first attempt. See our August jobs for the best moment to take them.

Hardwood cuttings

Hardwood cuttings are the least work of all. They need no cover or heat and can go straight into the ground.

After leaf fall, choose straight, healthy stems of this year’s growth, about pencil thickness.
Cut them into lengths of 20 to 25 cm. Make a flat cut just below a bud at the bottom and a sloping cut just above a bud at the top, so you remember which way up they go and rain runs off the top.
In a sheltered spot, push a spade into the soil and lever it back to make a narrow slit trench. On heavy soil, trickle some grit into the bottom.
Insert the cuttings 15 cm apart so that about two thirds of each is below ground. Firm the soil around them.
Leave them alone until the following autumn, watering in dry spells. Most will have rooted by then and can be moved to their permanent spot.

Red-barked dogwood, forsythia, weigela and buddleja root very easily this way, as do many roses, especially vigorous shrub and rambler types.

Blackcurrants are a special case. Leave all the buds on the cutting, including those below ground, so the new bush forms a stool of shoots from the base. Gooseberries and red currants are the opposite: rub off the lower buds so they grow on a short clean leg.

Root cuttings

Some perennials with thick, fleshy roots can be raised from root cuttings in winter, when they are dormant. Oriental poppies, phlox and Japanese anemones all respond well.

Lift the plant or dig down beside it and cut off a few pencil-thick roots. Cut these into 5 to 8 cm lengths, with a straight cut at the end nearest the crown and a slanting cut at the far end. Insert them vertically, straight end up, in pots of gritty compost so the tops are level with the surface. Cover with a thin layer of grit and keep in a cold frame. Shoots appear in spring.

Potting on and aftercare

Once roots show through the drainage holes, or you feel resistance when you tug a cutting gently, pot each one into its own 9 cm pot of multipurpose compost. Pinch out the tips of bushy plants like fuchsias to encourage side shoots.

Keep young plants in a sheltered spot or cold frame through their first winter. Check pots regularly for vine weevil grubs, which love the compost of young container plants. Plant out in spring once they have filled their pots.

Common mistakes

Using flowering shoots. They put energy into flowers instead of roots.

Too rich or too wet a compost. Cuttings rot rather than root. Add plenty of grit or perlite.

Full sun. Softwood cuttings in a sunny window under a bag will cook. Bright, indirect light is what they need.

Giving up too early. Some cuttings take months. If the stem is still green and firm, leave it.

Questions people ask

Do I need rooting powder? No for easy plants such as fuchsias and willows. It can help with slower plants, but it is not essential.

Can I take cuttings from plants in shops or other people’s gardens? Always ask first. Some newer varieties are protected by plant breeders’ rights, which stop you propagating them to sell.

Why are my cuttings wilting? Softwood cuttings lose water faster than they can take it up. Cover them, move them out of direct sun and mist them.

When can I plant rooted cuttings outside? Usually the spring after you take them, once they are growing strongly and have been hardened off.

Sources and further reading

Clemson University Home & Garden Information Center — Hardwood cuttings for shrub and tree propagation
Wikipedia — Cutting (plant)
Clemson University Home & Garden Information Center — Planting shrubs correctly