Wednesday, July 14, 2010

More on propagation

My experiments with propagation continue.  I've tried willows, blue honeysuckle, and shubert chokecherry so far.  All the leaves on my willow shoots turned black and fell off.  But closer examination of the shoots did show signs of rooting.  Even if the willows do root, they are off to a poor start.  Not so good, actually.

So I turned to the internet and read that willows will do well if you just cut a 9" to 12" long stalk about as thick as your thumb and stick it in water.  I tried this and am seeing signs of rooting in less than a week.  Score!  So I've expanded the program now for some red osier dogwoods that are also supposed to support this method.  Popplers work this way too, and I know where there are some great looking monster popplers to try.  These three types of tree apparently have some kind of hormone in their bark that allows them to root readily when stuck in water.  Let's give it a go, shall we?

Meanwhile, I'm thinking of the overall landscape plan.  I need some kind of hedge on one side of the property.  I'm thinking now of a kind of an S-shape that flows with the existing plantings and the driveway.  I've laid out a piece of garden hose as a prototype and will let that shape percolate for a bit.

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