What to Propagate now

taking summer shrub cuttings

During July I reached my cut-off point as we hit mid-summer if it’s not in the ground now it’s not going to flower this year up here in my field. Thats if it has made it through to this point, I am going to confess something here and now, the field growing this season has been the hardest it has ever been, I have to work constantly to get the annuals to establish in my clay soil after the wet beginning of the year and then there has been the nasty slugs, I know it’s an ongoing theme of my writing this year, believe me, I wish it wasn’t. I would say the biggest factor though has been pressure on my time I have been torn between the busy plug plant growing and packaging side of the business, weddings, workshops and fighting a never-ending battle to stop the field from going wild, and not in a good way!

I began to feel like I know many other growers have felt this year that it is a bit of a washout year, and I’ve felt a huge sense of deflation at the flowers that have not seen it through to the height of summer. True to style, if you have read any of my previous backstory articles it’s when I feel like this that a dramatic plan usually takes hold of me. There will be more on that plan in Autumn but between now and then I am going to ride with the feeling of mischievous change tickling my mind as I know what I am going to do in a big proportion of the field this autumn will be ripping up the usual rule book for Flower farmers and will inevitably raise a few industry eyebrows. For now, though alongside planning to rip up what I no longer feel serves the business well. I have been enjoying the scent of Nepeta and sweet peas, and delighting in Smokey seed heads covering my Cotinus, Hydrangeas bursting into flower and my reliable shrubs which are setting into the feild. Therefore this month Ive set about taking lots of cuttings to multiply up my existing shrub stock.

Nepeta Pink candy fills the air with, scent and the smoke seed of the cotinus at sunset

Sometimes gardening techniques can in my opinion be overly complicated when they are explained, and as a beginner, the angst of doing something wrong may sometimes put people off giving it a go. But once you’ve propagated plants successfully through seed or cuttings, it can become addictive. Between June and September is the best time to take cuttings from many different shrubs. Whilst they are in full flow of rapid growth is the best time to capture the energy stored in these plant stems and turn that to our advantage.