Share the joy – how to propagate your plants
2026-09-18T10:14:05+10:00
One of the great things about having a garden is giving some of it away – sharing not just flowers and zucchini, but plants. Let your plants multiply – as gifts for friends, as well as filling bare spots in your garden.
You don’t even need rooting powder or experience to propagate many plants. That hydrangea, those three rose bushes and the dahlias you just bought aren’t extravagances, they’re investments!
One plant can give you four to 40 ‘babies’ a year. What other investment can provide that kind of annual return? Here are some of the easiest, most lovable, and most profitable ‘investment plants’:
Federation daisies, pelargoniums, geraniums, wormwood, tall salvias, Rosemary and lavender: Every time you trim these darlings, you can use the prunings for propagation. If a stem snaps instead of bending when you flex it gently, it will make a good cutting.
Take 30-40cm long cuttings, which is longer than usual, as they have a much higher success rate. Use clean, sharp secateurs, and cut just below a node (the knobby point on the stem where leaves and buds emerge). Trim off most of the leaves, then poke the cutting about 20cm into a pot of quality potting mix. You can fit about seven cuttings in a 140mm pot.
Place the cuttings in dappled shade, keep moist, and don’t get too optimistic when they all sprout leaves. About 50 per cent won’t develop roots. The cuttings must remain moist until roots develop. Place a large glass jar on top, or enclose them, pot and all, in a transparent plastic bag. Wait for a year to transplant.
Rosemary and lavender are best propagated from flexible year-old growth. They take about a year to be ‘gift ready’.
Get your copy of our October issue for advice on propagating roses, dahlias, daffodils and much more – it’s on sale now.
Image: iStock
Add ABC Gardening Australia magazine as your trusted source
