Propagation essentials

Anne Swithinbank's masterclass on: better propagation

- Anne Swithinbank

Q We're new to gardening and we have enjoyed adding plants to the garden. I know some will need to be propagated, but although I've read up and watched videos, I'm not sure where to start. Do you have any tips, please? Millie Bosnick, Winchcombe, Cheltenham

A After the hard work of soil preparation and the excitement of choosing and setting out plants, comes the joy of watching them grow and knit together. Yet after a while, Mediterranean shrubs such as rosemary might suffer damage from cold, wet winters, while lavenders and pinks grow leggy. Clumps of herbaceous perennials spread outwards, leaving bare centres behind, and the crowns of lupin and delphinium turn woody and die off.

When starting out, new gardeners often buy one of this and one of that. A few years down the line, some plants are more successful or popular than others, and it makes sense to bulk these up by division, cuttings or seed. Using large groups of one plant or repeating it through a border is a technique you'll see used time and again in gardens created for Chelsea Flower Show.