Make more conifers

When to take cuttings

Conifers bring structure and year-round interest to a garden. Cuttings can be taken from late summer to the end of autumn, but it's a slow process and can take almost a year for shoots to make roots. If you're planning ahead you can grow enough plants for a whole new hedge. All but the very slowest growing varieties of conifers will root from cuttings.

If you have a Leyland cypress or another variety of conifer hedge, you could use trimmings from hedge pruning as a source of cuttings material. When choosing material from variegated conifers make sure you pick shoots that match the colour of the parent plant and not a shoot that has reverted to green.

What to do

Propagation

• Choose small, healthy shoots that are about 7.5cm - 10cm (3-4in) long and pull off gently from the plant, removing a sliver of darker wood.
• Neatly trim this with sharp secateurs or knife. Alternatively, snip off a longer sideshoot to make your cutting. To do this, make a cut below a leaf and remove leaves from the bottom third of the cutting - any foliage that would be in contact with the surface of the compost could rot.
• Dip the cut end of each cutting into hormone rooting powder or gel. If powder is used, shake off any surplus.
• Insert several cuttings round the edge of a pot filled with free-draining compost (a mix of 50 per cent cuttings compost and 50 per cent horticultural grit).
• If you're growing several varieties, label pots and finish by watering.

Aftercare

• Place in a sheltered spot, out of direct sunlight and wait for cuttings to root over the next 12 months. A cold frame or beneath a wall would be ideal.
• Keep compost moist and occasionally spray cuttings to help with loss of water through transpiration.
• Conifers take a long time to root and won't be ready to be given their own pots until next autumn.

Five to try

• Cupressocyparis leylandii - the well-known Leyland hedging conifer
• Chamaecyparis obtusa 'Nana Aurea' - compact, golden shrub
• Thuja occidentalis 'Smaragd' - upright with bright green leaves
• Cupressus macrocarpa 'Goldcrest' - conical shape with golden foliage
• Tsuga canadensis 'Pendula' - mound-forming shrub with dark green leaves