Take cuttings and save a small fortune

LIVING in a frost pocket, as I do, it's inevitable that each year I lose plants which are on the tender side, leaving gaps in my beds and borders which need to be filled.

Visits to the garden centre each year to replenish stock can be a costly exercise, but if you want to save money and gain a great deal of satisfaction, now is the time to have a go at taking softwood cuttings, which will take a little time but won't cost you any money apart from a few small flower pots and a little compost.

Easy-to-root plants include lavatera, helianthemum, choisya, deutzia, escallonia, hebe, hydrangea, lavender, philadelphus and weigela, as well as fuchsia and olearia.

You take cuttings about 8-10cm (3-4in) long in late spring and early summer, before the stem becomes hard and woody, put them in a container of compost and cover them with clear polythene to prevent them wilting. When the cuttings have rooted – which can happen in around six weeks – they can be repotted or planted up in the garden.

With this step-by-step guide to softwood cuttings, you won't go far wrong:

:: Always take the cuttings from a healthy plant, using a sharp knife or secateurs. Check there are no pests on the leaves or stems and that there is no disease.

:: Cut the stem just below a leaf joint and remove the lower leaves, leaving the bottom half of the stem bare. If the remaining leaves are large, for example hydrangea or laurel, they can be cut in half to reduce loss of moisture through transpiration.

:: Plants which flower on young growth, such as hebes and fuchsias, may have flowerbuds at the tip of the cutting which will need nipping out along with the tip.

:: As soon as you have taken the cutting, put it in a polythene bag or bucket of water to stop it wilting until you are ready to propagate.

:: Dip the cut end in hormone rooting powder or liquid, covering the lower 6mm (1/4in) of the cutting before inserting it in a pot filled with seed compost. You can fit five cuttings around the edge of a 10cm (4in) pot. While most plants will root without the aid of hormone rooting powder, more difficult species such as rhododendron and hollies need a boost to produce roots. Rooting powder also contains a fungicide to protect the new plant against diseases.

:: Make sure the container's drainage holes are not blocked because a waterlogged cutting is unlikely to take.

:: The compost should be moist. Use your finger or a small stick to make a hole for the cutting and insert each one 2in (5cm) apart, but don't firm them in.

:: Water them with a fine rose to settle the compost around the stems and allow the excess water to drain.

:: Label each pot.

:: Thin-leaved plants such as fuchsias root best if the pot is placed inside a large, loosely tied plastic bag or clear polythene as it keeps the air around them humid, but don't use this method for plants with silver, hairy leaves or they may rot.

:: Stand the pots out of direct sun and draughts while they root, but in a warm humid spot and water them enough so that the compost doesn't dry out.

:: If you notice any faded leaves or flowers on rooted cuttings or plants in the next few weeks, remove them to prevent the spread of fungal diseases such as botrytis.

:: In six to eight weeks they should have rooted and you will be able to repot them or plant them in the garden.

CHELSEA ROUND UP

Designers crossed their fingers that the wind and rain wouldn't batter their majestic irises, alliums, foxgloves and other tall specimens as the RHS Chelsea Flower Show opened its doors to the media on Monday.

A little more colourful than in previous years, there were pockets of innovation, from Dan Pearson's wild planting in the Laurent-Perrier Chatsworth Garden, with its massive rocks transported from Chatsworth forming a focal point of the huge plot, to Prince Harry's much publicised Sentebale garden with its bursts of bright orange hues dancing through the planting.

There was also plenty of geometry in this year's offerings - uniform box hedges framing plantings dominated by blues, pinks, whites and pale greens, with irises, cow parsley, digitalis, geum, alliums and peonies popular choices.

Weird and wonderful displays were provided in the Fresh Gardens section, including The World Vision Garden, a nod to Cambodian paddy fields represented by translucent orange rods fringed by palms and alocasia, whose gigantic leaves were the showstoppers.

But for me, the prettiest garden came from designer Chris Beardshaw, whose Morgan Stanley Healthy Cities Garden provided a riot of colour, deep purple irises and salvias interplanted with zingy orange geums and mulberry-coloured lupins. And it won't be a two-minute wonder. The garden is being transferred after Chelsea to Poplar in East London.

BEST OF THE BUNCH: Black-eyed Susan

THIS much-loved perennial climber produces a profusion of black-centred orange, yellow or creamy vanilla flowers into the autumn if it is given the right conditions. Ideally grown in a sheltered spot, in a porch or conservatory, it will thrive under cover, climbing to 1.5m (5ft) in a short time and should survive winter in a cool greenhouse. Alternatively, grow it as an annual outdoors to climb up posts and obelisks in a sheltered spot, shaded from the hottest sun and use it to provide instant colour while more permanent climbers are becoming established.