When plants go dormant in the winter, they’re not just sitting there. They’re preparing to send out new growth in the spring.
For hardwood trees, shrubs and vines, such as poplar, native willows, highbush blueberries, elderberries, grapes, hydrangeas and forsythia, dormancy also makes it possible to take cuttings without harming their growth. This also works with perennial herbs.
In a few simple steps, these cuttings — which you might be making anyway if you prune in winter — can become new plants. It’s a free and easy way to get more fruit trees to share or keep to feed your family, decorative shrubs to surround your house or hardwood trees to mill in the future.
Because taking a cutting makes a “clone” of the original plant, it will be just like the plant it came from, preserving interesting leaves or good fruit-bearing traits.
You can take cuttings now through very early spring, as long as the plants are dormant. Store them in a cool place such as an unheated shed or the fridge until you’re ready to root them, keeping the base moist.
Look for shoots that the tree sent out this past season. They’re typically long, thin and straight with smooth bark; on hardwood trees, you’re most likely to have success with ones in the “juvenile zone,” the area where the tree’s trunk branches out.
Cut 6 to 12 inches with four to six buds along the length. Snip just below a node, or a spot where a leaf would grow.
If you can, find one to cut with thinner buds along the branch and a bud at the end of it (technical guides call this a terminal bud). Cuttings like these tend to be more successful.
To increase the chances, cut the end of the branch into a V shape, scratch the bark at the end of the cutting or take some off. This will increase the amount of growing hormones the tree puts out and make it more likely to form the callus, a covering over the wound that leads to roots.
To set roots, they need a “rooting medium”: a mix with good drainage that hangs onto moisture. Peat or coconut coir are common choices, mixed with rocky perlite or vermiculite (no soil!). Make sure there’s a drainage hole in the bottom of the pots.
Powdered “rooting hormones” encourage this process and are commonly found at garden stores, but you can try your luck without them, too.
Put the cutting in the moistened soil about two-thirds of the way into the container. Remove any buds on the bottom two inches of the cutting. At least two buds should be below the surface and at least one above. Keep the pots in bright, indirect sun.
The plants should root in two to four months; one way to tell is by pulling gently on the cutting. If there’s resistance, they may have formed roots. Or, look at the drainage hole in the pot to see if there are any roots visible.
Once those roots reach the outside of the container, they’re ready to move outside to “harden off” or prepare for a change in temperature, then be transplanted into a larger plot. Most cuttings can survive in a pot for a year or two before planting in the ground in early fall.
Or, just dig a narrow trench outside and stick the cuttings right in.
