The Golden State: Where & How to Live, Secure, Visit, Enjoy and Thrive in California

Rockweler Rockgardens

There are two types of cuttings which will give good results. The first are secured by trimming back, after flowering, plants which are of creeping habit or form mats. This will result in the production of a quantity of new, strong shoots, which may be detached with the fingers by pressing down and pulling them off with a bit of the old stem or "heel," often with some roots attached. The soft tips, which would wilt, may be pinched off; the bottom also may be trimmed somewhat with a sharp knife to secure a firm point. These are soft-wood cuttings.

Hard-wood cuttings may be made by removing strong shoots of one season's growth, which have become thoroughly firm or "ripe." Cut the lower end just below a joint, and make the cutting three or four inches long, trimming off the leaves from the lower half.

For rooting the cuttings, ordinary flowerpots may be used, but the types known as azalea pots are better. Four to six inches in diameter is a convenient size to use. Put an inch or so of gravel in the bottom, and then fill in to within a half inch of the top with half sand and half peatmoss, pressed down firmly. Insert the cuttings, about two inches apart, around the edge of the pot.

The pots containing the soft-wood cuttings may be placed in deep saucers to be kept supplied with water: those containing the hard-wood cuttings should be plunged to the rim in cinders, as suggested for divisions above. In either case, they should be kept in the shade and watered frequently enough to prevent the soil from drying out, but not overwatered. The soft-wood cuttings should root within a few weeks; the hard-wood ones may root within a few weeks, or take several months. As soon as they have formed roots, they may be potted up individually, or placed in a frame or bed in prepared soil, to make further growth before being set out in the garden.

Hard-wood cuttings made in the autumn may be allowed to remain in the frame over winter, being thoroughly mulched with leaves to prevent their being heaved out, or the cracking of the pots by frost.

For taking up and transplanting rock plants, many of which root very deeply, I have found an asparagus knife—used for cutting this vegetable below ground—most convenient. It also makes an excellent tool for weeding in the rock garden: the long narrow blade may be thrust in between stones, cutting the roots of undesired intruders off so far down they will not sprout again, without disturbing any neighboring plant.