Propagate woolly bush cuttings

It’s easy to see why native woolly bushes (Adenanthos sericeus) are so adored. Who doesn’t love to stroke the soft foliage? They should be considered pets rather than plants! The standard form is an upright shrub 2–5m tall and 1–1.5m wide that hedges beautifully. Dwarf forms such as ‘Silver Streak’ (1–2m) make wonderful feature plants, while ‘Silver Lining’ is an unusual groundcover. Here’s how to propagate woolly bush from cuttings:

Step-by-step method for propagating woolly bush

1 TAKE material from your shrub. The branches of my four-year-old in-ground shrub are growing at odd angles due to increasing shade from surrounding trees.

2 CUT straight across the stem, just under a node. Remove the lower leaves and, as the stems are quite woody, scrape one side to help water penetrate. (Avoid scraping plants with soft stems as they may rot.)

3 APPLY hormone powder to the lower 1cm of the cutting. Tap off the excess.

4 FILL a tray or mini-greenhouse with a mix of perlite and coir peat at a ratio of about 90:10. Use a dibbler, such as a pencil, to make holes in the mix. Insert the cuttings into the mix, up to their leaves – although some stems may be leafless. About one-third of the cutting should be below the mix and two-thirds above. Tamp down the perlite to secure the stems, then write up a label that shows the plant name, the date and the type of hormone used. Drench the cuttings with water, then empty the water from the bottom tray so the cuttings won’t rot. Place the tray in a semi-shaded spot without a lid. Check moisture weekly by inserting your finger into the perlite, and water as needed, keeping moist but not wet. Roots should form in 3–5 months.

Try this method with bottlebrush, tea-tree, mint bush, silver spurflower, daisy-bush and correa.

Photos by Brent Wilson