Spreading the word about plant propagation

HAVING handed out vicious-looking pairs of eight-inch-long matte black snippers, Wayne Harvey-Parkin rubs his hands together and says ominously: “You are ready to make your first cut of the evening.”

- ANDY PHILLIPS

Pretty soon those of us around the chipboard table will be cutting stems, shearing through leaf veins and pulling leaves off tiny plants.

While it might sound murderous, it is in fact an evening plant propagation workshop at Nook Houseplants in Plymouth.

Propagating is the process of growing multiple plants from a single mother plant, and can seem like you are torturing your greenery – but in fact is nature’s way of creating new life.

The workshops have proven a big success for Nook, and regularly sell out, sometimes months in advance.

Owners Becca Langsford and Nieve Perry started workshops as soon as they took on the their premises on Ebrington Street in October 2022, and moustachioed Wayne is an excellent host having also joined their growing team.

The business began in Becca’s spare room during lockdown, and has blossomed into an enterprise which also offers plant hire and maintenance visits as well as stocking a shopful of plants, potting mix and a range of pots.

As well as propagation and plant care, which is the one I have booked and paid £18 for, the business also runs workshops on creating terrariums, succulent gardens and Japanese-style tabletop moss gardens.