I am going to give you suggested propagation techniques for a variety of different landscape plants.
Arborvitae: Cuttings taken in mid to late summer can be rooted in coarse sand under intermittent mist. Cuttings taken in the fall can be rooted in coarse sand in an outdoor frame. Cuttings taken during the winter can be rooted in coarse sand with bottom heat.
Ash Trees: Collect the seeds when they ripen and plant them out right away. Most should germinate the first season.
Azaleas, evergreen: The propagation technique used by most growers for evergreen Azaleas is the hardwood method done in the late fall with bottom heat. You can try softwood cuttings around June 1.
Azaleas, deciduous varieties: Most deciduous Azaleas are grown from seeds collected in the fall and planted immediately. I would sow them in a flat, in an area where they can be kept warm and receive some natural or artificial light. You can also try softwood cuttings, preferably under intermittent mist.
Barberry: Most varieties of Barberry can be done by either softwood cuttings in early June, or hardwood cuttings in the late fall.
Boston Ivy: Grow from seed. Plant outdoors in late April or early May.
European Beech: Grow from seed. Collect when ripe, plant outdoors immediately.
Purple Leaf Weeping Beech: This variety must be grafted on to a Beech variety grown from seed.
White Birch: Grow from seed. Collect the seeds when ripe and plant outdoors in the fall.
Weeping White Birch: This variety must be grafted on to a Birch rootstock grown from seed.
Boxwood: Softwood cuttings in July under intermittent mist or hardwood cuttings in mid to late fall in and outdoor frame. Winter cuttings with bottom heat.
Burning Bush: Softwood cuttings in late May or early June, hardwood cuttings in late mid to late fall in an outdoor frame.
Burning Bush
Weeping Cherries: Weeping cherries must be grafted on to a cherry rootstock grown from seed. Collect the seeds when ripe, stratify 150 days over winter, plant in the spring. I have also had some success with softwood cuttings under intermittent mist.
Blue False Cypress: Semi-hardwood cuttings in late August under intermittent mist, or hardwood cuttings in the late fall with bottom heat.
Gold Thread Cypress: Hardwood cuttings in late fall with bottom heat. You can try some semi-hardwood cuttings in late summer under intermittent mist.
Clematis: Softwood cuttings in late spring. As with almost all softwood cuttings, intermittent mist will dramatically increase your success.
Cotoneaster: Propagation is easy by doing softwood cuttings in early June, or hardwood cuttings in late fall.
Flowering Crabapples: Most varieties of flowering Crabapple must be grafted or budded on to a rootstock grown from seed. Collect the seeds as they ripen in the fall and plant them outdoors immediately.
Daylilies: Propagate by division in the fall or the spring.
Rosy Returns Daylily
Chinese Dogwood: Softwood cuttings in early June or grow from seed. Collect the seed in the fall when ripe. Stratify in moist peat at room temperature for 100 days, and then in your refrigerator for another 100 days, then plant outside.
Pink Dogwood: Softwood cuttings under intermittent mist in early June, or bud or graft on to a white dogwood seedling.
Red Twig Dogwood: Layering in April or May, or softwood cuttings in June, or hardwood cuttings in late fall. Propagation of this plant is extremely easy.
Yellow Twig Dogwood: Layering in April or May, or softwood cuttings in June, or hardwood cuttings in late fall.
Variegated Dogwood Trees: Softwood cuttings under intermittent mist in early June, or bud or graft on to a white dogwood seedling.
White Dogwood: Softwood cuttings in early June or grow from seed. Collect the seed in the fall when ripe. Stratify in moist peat at room temperature for 100 days, and then in your refrigerator for another 100 days, then plant outside.
English Ivy: Softwood cuttings during the summer beginning in early June.
Variegated Euonymus Varieties: Softwood cuttings beginning in June. Hardwood cuttings in the fall outside in a frame of course sand.
Firethorne (Pyracantha): Softwood cuttings in June, or semi-hardwood cuttings in the fall in a frame of course sand.
Fir, Concolor: Grow from seed. Collect the seeds in the fall and store them in a cool dry place until spring. Sow the seeds outdoors in the spring. Cover the seed bed with clear plastic until the seeds begin to germinate.
Forsythia: Layering in spring or fall, softwood cuttings in June, hardwood cuttings in the late fall or winter.
Washington Hawthorn: Grow from seed. Collect the seeds in the fall and plant them in an outdoor seed bed immediately.
Canadian Hemlock: Grow from seed. Collect the pine cones in the fall before they open and release the seeds into the air. Place the pine cones in a paper bag to catch the seeds as the cones open. Store the seeds in a cool dry place until spring, stratify for 30 days in moist peat in your refrigerator, and plant outside after the danger of frost has passed.
English Holly: Hardwood cuttings, late fall with bottom heat.
Japanese Holly: Medium softwood cuttings in mid summer, or hardwood cuttings in the fall in and outside frame of sand. Or hardwood cuttings in late fall or winter with bottom heat.
Honeysuckle: Layering in the spring, softwood cuttings in early June, or hardwood cuttings in the fall.
Hosta: Propagate by dividing in late fall or early spring.
Blue Hydrangea: Softwood cuttings, or division.
Nikko Blue Hydrangea
P.G. Hydrangea: Layering in the spring, or softwood cuttings in early June.
Junipers: Softwood to semi-hardwood cuttings in mid to late summer under intermittent mist, hardwood cuttings in the fall in an outdoor frame, or hardwood cuttings in late fall or winter with bottom heat.
Leucothoe: Softwood cuttings in June or hardwood cuttings in the fall.
Lilacs: Lilacs must be budded or grafted on to a rootstock grown from seed. Either a lilac seedling or some growers use privet as a rootstock.
Linden Trees: Grow from seed. Collect the seeds when ripe and plant immediately.
Lirope: Propagate by division.
Magnolia: Some varieties are grown from seed, and others are budded on to these seedlings.
Maple Trees: Grow from seed. Collect the seeds when ripe and plant immediately.
Japanese Maple: Grow from seed. Collect the seeds when ripe and store until late fall. Pre-treat the seeds by soaking overnight in hot water, and then stratify in moist peat for 90-120 days in your refrigerator. Then plant them outside.
Japanese Maple
Weeping Japanese Maple: This variety must be grafted on to a rootstock grown from seed.
Mockorange: Layering in the spring, softwood cuttings in June, and hardwood cuttings in the fall and winter.
Mountain Ash Trees: Grow from seed. Collect when ripe and plant immediately.
Blue Myrtle: Propagate by division.
Oak Trees: Grow from seed. Collect when ripe and plant immediately.
Ornamental Grasses: Propagate by division.
Pachysandra: Propagate by division, or softwood cuttings.
Bradford Pear Trees: Grow from seed. Collect when ripe and stratify in moist peat in your refrigerator for 60-90 days.
Flowering Plum Trees: Desired varieties must be budded on to a rootstock grown from seed. Collect the seeds when ripe and stratify in moist peat in your refrigerator for 150 days before planting outside.
White Pine Trees: Grow from seed. Collect the pine cones in the fall before they open and allow them to open in a paper bag to catch the seeds. Store in a cool dry place until spring, then sow them outside.
Weeping White Pine: Must be grafted on to a white pine seedling.
Austrian Pine: Grow from seed. Collect the pine cones in the fall before they open and allow them to open in a paper bag to catch the seeds. Store in a cool dry place until spring, then sow them outside.
Mugho Pine: Grow from seed. Plant them outside in the spring.
Potentilla: Softwood cuttings in June, or hardwood cuttings in the late fall.
Poplar Trees: Grow from seed. Collect the seeds when ripe and plant outside immediately. Also softwood cuttings or hardwood cuttings.
Purple Leaf Winter Creeper: Softwood cuttings in early June, or semi-hardwood cuttings throughout the summer.
Pussy Willow: Layering in the spring, softwood cuttings in early June, or hardwood cuttings in the late fall.
Privet: Layering in the spring, softwood cuttings in early June, or hardwood cuttings in the late fall.
Red Bud Trees: Grow from seed. Collect when ripe and plant outside in the spring.
Rhododendrons: Can be grown from seed. Collect in the fall and grow in a flat, indoors at 70 degrees F. with some light. Hybrid varieties must be grown from cuttings. Softwoods in early June under intermittent mist, or hardwoods in perlite peat moss mixture in the late fall with bottom heat.
Rose of Sharon: Layering in the spring, softwood cuttings in early June, or hardwood cuttings in the late fall.
Purple Sandcherry: Layering in the spring, softwood cuttings in early June, or hardwood cuttings in the late fall.
Spiraea: Layering in the spring, softwood cuttings in early June, or hardwood cuttings in the late fall.
Dwarf Alberta Spruce: Softwood cuttings in mid to late June under intermittent mist, or hardwood cuttings in the late fall with bottom heat.
Colorado Blue Spruce: Grow from seed. Collect the pine cones in the fall before they open and allow them to open in a paper bag to catch the seeds. Store in a cool dry place until spring, then sow them outside.
Viburnum: Layering in the spring, softwood cuttings in early June, or hardwood cuttings in the late fall.
Weigela: Layering in the spring, softwood cuttings in early June, or hardwood cuttings in the late fall.
Wisteria: Layering in the spring, softwood cuttings in early June, or hardwood cuttings in the late fall.
Weeping Willow: Layering in the spring, softwood cuttings in early June, or hardwood cuttings in the late fall.
Witch Hazel: Layering in the spring, softwood cuttings in early June, or hardwood cuttings in the late fall.
Yews (Taxus): Softwood cuttings in early July through early August, or hardwood cuttings in the fall in course sand in an outside frame, or hardwood cuttings in late fall or winter with bottom heat.
Yucca: Propagate by taking cuttings from the roots in early spring and planting outside. Just cut a piece of root about 3/4″ long and plant it below the surface of the soil about 1/2″.
Under Linden tree you state to grow them by seed, but that would take years to get and actual tree. I would very much like to propagate some cuttings of little leaf linden. Is this possible? Right now is the perfect time to cut I believe. If so, is there a special technique for them? I have a grow room and live in zone 8b. Thanks!
Keith,
Most trees are grown from seed, then cultivars are budded or grafted onto those seedlings. You can try them from cuttings but I don’t know that hardwood cuttings will work at all but you can try, then try again in summer with softwoods.
Hi. What type of Japanese Maple seeds should I propagate to grow the strongest root stock?
Suzie,
Acer Palmatum which is just a green Japanese maple but seeds from a red tree work just as well.
I laughed at your method of propagating Yucca plants. My husband has a better way….dig one out. He dug a large one out and 2 more returned. He dug those out and 4 grew in their place! We are up to 10 or 12 where once there was one! They are in the middle of a patch of Cleome and look quite attractive in their short state. I offered some to my cousin and she said, “No thanks! They call them Yucca for a reason!!” I talked to a nurse at the local blood lab and she is from the islands and said that they eat Yucca but she pronounced it “Eucca”. Is it one and the same? If so, I can’t believe she actually buys this from the specialty store!
Dottie,
I really don’t know if this is the same plant. Me? Not a big fan for all of those reasons.
Hi Mike! I was wondering if you could tell me if it’s okay to cut an Indian Hawthorn way back and if so is there a better time of year to do it? Thank you!
Tanya,
Not really familiar with Indian Hawthorne but most plants can be cut back pretty hard if you do it during the winter when they are dormant.
Can you burn cuttings from a wisteria?
Rhonda,
Don’t think I understand the question.
Thanks Mike ,
Could you please clarify on an easy way to stratify the cherry seeds.
Thanks,
Tina Schraier
Tina,
Best thing to do is google seed starting database then look up the cherry that you want to grow. You’ll get the exact details that you need.
Hi Mike,
Re: propagating taxus (yew):
Could you clarify what you mean about propagating yews “with bottom heat”:? You said “… hardwood cuttings in the fall in course sand in an outside frame, or hardwood cuttings in late fall or winter with bottom heat.”?
Are you implying that hardwood cuttings of yews taken in the fall can be done outdoors, but winter cuttings should be done indoors? Will hardwood cuttings taken in winter and planted in a frame outside not survive?
Should the fall cuttings be done early enough that the cutting can start growing roots before frost sets in? It’s mid-December here – but with record warm temps (it’s currently 11 degrees Celsius here, which is approx. 52 degrees Fahrenheit). Is it too late to take cuttings of our yews this year?
Jacqueline,
Taxus cuttings taken in fall or winter can be left outside. But they are very slow to root and really won’t be rooted well enough to transplant for 12 months. If a person has a way to heat the rooting medium to about 69 degrees F. they will root in a matter of 6-8 weeks. But at the same time the tops have to be kept around 45 degrees, no warmer. They start growing before rooted the cuttings will fail.
i get a lot from your vids but i must say that you have offers that dont apply to me because im not in the USA i can understand this where it is something like the clamshells but when its the written word this could be done as a download and i would still pay for them i paid $7 for one of your missives then saw you was offering another for about $2.95 but only to those within the states soooo frustrating apart from that i find your videos so instructive and thanks for that
keith
Keith,
I’m sure can understand why we only offer a $2.95 product to U.S. customers only. And all of that information is on my websites free of charge. Be sure to spend time on my first website, http://freeplants.com. But don’t let those border boundries from getting involved. We have members from many different parts of the world and the information still applies.
Last fall I did as you showed in your Youtube video and took cuttings from my arborvitae. Like you suggested I made a cold box and planted them. They look great now and I am wondering if I can transplant them into my yard to start my “green” fence. I am seriously thinking of coming a backyard nursery if this works. Your instructions were simple and the results are great.
Laurie,
If the cuttings are well rooted you can move them and plant them out. It really depends on when you stuck them. They might still be in the rooting process. Trying pulling a few out. Resistance means they are rooted. If not rooted, water them once or twice a day now that it is warm and they should root for you. In the biz we use this system which allows us to root cuttings in the dead of summer. https://mikesbackyardnursery.com/mikes-plant-propagation-kit/