Taking greenwood cuttings

An easy way to propagate shrubs and climbers, says Ruth

- Ruth Hayes

ONE of the best shrubs in our garden is a Coronilla glauca 'Citrina', a compact evergreen shrub with soft, dense leaves and lots of brilliant yellow flowers.

It blooms in winter and the flowers fill the garden with the sweetest scent, a reminder that spring is just around the corner.

Ours are several years old and starting to sprawl and get rather woody in its centre, so as they are relatively short-lived plants I decided to propagate it by taking some greenwood cuttings.

These come between the new, sappy growth of softwood cuttings taken in spring and early summer, and the mature semi-ripe and hardwood cuttings of late summer and autumn/winter.

Taken now, relatively soft stems should have rooted well by autumn when they can be potted up individually and overwintered undercover.