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Layering Shrubs

Rebecca's Garden : Episode REB-663 -- More Projects »
Layering is a great way to get new shrubs for free. The layering technique is best done in the spring and works well on deciduous shrubs. The stems of these shrubs need to be long, flexible and woody (like dogwood and viburnum). Basically, you're going to bury a stem and it's going to grow new roots; then you'll sever it from the mother plant and eventually have a new baby plant.

Materials

deciduous shrubs (you'll use ones you already have growing)
metal hooks or plant markers
rooting hormone

  • Begin by locating an outer branch, making sure it's long enough to reach the ground. Then measure in from the leaves about a foot, finding a spot just below a leaf node.
    • PHOTO

    Figure A
    PHOTO

    Figure B
    PHOTO

    Figure C
  • At that point make a little nick in the stem. Be careful not to cut all the way through the stem, just halfway through. This is where the new roots are going to develop, so prop the cut open using a toothpick or a little piece of wood (figure A). To increase root development, sprinkle on a little rooting hormone (figure B).

  • Remove the leaves from the stem on the portion you'll be burying--which will be about six inches on either side of the wound. Once the leaves are removed, dig a hole about four inches deep.

  • Bend the branch into the hole, using wire hooks from your coat hangers or plant markers to hold it down (figure C). Place the first one closer to the mother plant and push it in. That will help hold it down. Then place the second one closer to the wound very carefully pushing that down as well.

  • Backfill with soil amended with compost, cow manure and peat moss. You don't want to leave the tip of this branch in the soil--otherwise it will get brown, mushy and rot. Gently take a stake and place it on the backside of the stem (so as not to injure either the new wound or the area where the new roots will be developing). Then tie it up. Once the new plant is tied to the stake, remove any of the remaining leaves which are touching the soil; otherwise they'll rot.

    Some other shrubs good for layering include honeysuckle, lilac, euonymus, forsythia and hydrangea. The vines of clematis and ivy can also be layered. Make sure you keep the new plant watered. By fall, hopefully the new plant will have its own root system and at that point it can be severed from the mother plant. But leave it in the same location until next spring. At that point you can transplant it anywhere in the garden.

    • Also in this Episode
    Rebecca's Garden : Episode REB-663
    •Shopping for Annuals
    •Layering Shrubs
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