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You are here: Home / Plant Propagation / Cuttings / My Month-By-Month Plant Propagation Guide

My Month-By-Month Plant Propagation Guide

Updated : September 28, 2024

8 Comments

This seems to be another common question folks have…

“What Should I Be Doing Now?

Don’t worry, I’ve got you covered!

I put together a month-by-month guide so you know what type of propagation is best for each month of the year.

January-Mid Winter

You can do hardwood cuttings of deciduous plants. Just wait for a day when the ground is not frozen so you can either plant them out, or bury them as described in the section on hardwood cuttings.

You can also do hardwood cuttings of evergreens, if you can provide them with some bottom heat.  If you are going to do any grafting, now is the time to bring in your rootstock and let them warm up so they can begin to break dormancy. 

February-Mid to Late Winter

You can still do hardwood cuttings as described for January. Start your grafting toward the middle or end of the month.

March-Late Winter, Early Spring

It’s a little late for hardwood cuttings of evergreens, but you can still do some hardwood cuttings of deciduous plants.

As soon as the ground thaws and spring begins to peak around the corner you can start doing plants that can be propagated by division. You can also start to do some layering.

If you have landscape plants that need pruning, do it now before they begin to grow. Even if it means losing the flower buds, if the plant needs trimming it should be done in order to develop an attractive plant.

Any transplanting that you intend to do should be done now before the plants break dormancy.

April-Early Spring

There are plenty of things to do in April. You can still do some division as long as the plants are not too far out of dormancy. You can do layering and serpentine layering.

If you have seeds that you have been stratifying, you can plant them out as long as they have been in stratification for the proper length of time.

May-Mid Spring

You can continue all methods of layering. All seeds should now be ready to plant out. You can also collect seeds that ripen in the spring. By the end of the month you should be able to start some softwood cuttings, unless you are in a northern state.

June-Late Spring, Early Summer

By now you should be able to do softwood cuttings of just about all deciduous plants. If you are going to do softwood cuttings of Rhododendrons, try some early in June.

If they don’t do well, try a few more later in the month. If you are using my Automated Plant Propagation System you can experiment with all kinds of different plants. June is a little early to be doing softwood cuttings of evergreens but you can test a few.

July-Mid Summer

Continue with softwood cuttings of deciduous plants. Now is the time to start some softwood cuttings of evergreens.

By mid to late July you can start budding dogwoods, apples, crab apples, cherries, and anything else you would like to bud.

August-Mid to Late Summer

Continue with softwood cuttings of evergreens. By now the wood of most deciduous plants has hardened off.

You can still make cuttings with this harder wood if you are using my Automated Plant Propagation System, but you should use a little stronger concentration of rooting compound. Budding can be done early in August.

September-Late Summer, Early Fall

Start watching for fall seeds to ripen and start collecting them. Evergreen cuttings can still be taken and rooted using my Automated Plant Propagation System. If you are not using my system you can stick them in a bed of sand and keep them watered.

October-Fall

Hardwood cuttings of evergreens can be stuck in a bed of sand. Or you can start sticking hardwood cuttings of evergreens using bottom heat. After a good hard frost you can start dividing perennials.

Collect pines cones from Pines, Spruce, and Firs, as the cones open they release the seeds inside. Store the seeds in a cool dry place until spring for plantings. Seed pods from Rhododendrons and Deciduous Azaleas can also be collected.

November-Late Fall

Hardwood cuttings of evergreens can be stuck either in a bed of sand outdoors or indoors with bottom heat. Hardwood cuttings of deciduous plants can be done by either of the methods mentioned in the section on hardwood cuttings.

If you intend to do some grafting over the winter, now is the time to make sure your rootstock is potted up and placed in a protected, but cold area until January.

December-Early Winter

You can do hardwood cuttings of evergreens in a bed of sand or with bottom heat. You can also do hardwood cuttings of deciduous plants as long as the ground is not frozen.

Take a gander at these posts...

  • Grow Your Own Grape Plants
  • A Simple Way To Root Plants From Cuttings
  • How to Grow Roses from Cuttings
  • Propagation From Cuttings
  • Propagating Potentilla from Cuttings

Comments

  1. Tina Schraier says

    May 17, 2025 at 7:18 pm

    Thanks for the great info Mike. Re; budding .. what is budding ?

    Reply
    • Mike says

      May 18, 2025 at 8:13 am

      Tina,
      The art of budding is taking a single bud and slipping it under the bark of a root stock that was grown from seed. It’s used on things that don’t do well on their own roots.

      Reply
  2. Bridgett Ray says

    March 27, 2025 at 11:27 am

    Hi Mike,
    I have been watching you for many years and have learned a lot from you. I may join the club, but not at this time. I have a question for you. I took some cuttings from one of my Virbernum shrubs as I was pruning them in January. I placed them in a sandy cutting mix to see if they would root. I placed a plastic cover with air holes over them. In the last few weeks they have been leafing out but there are not any roots on any that I have checked. As far as I know what to do, I plan to keep them in the containers and see how they do with rooting. Do you have any advice or suggestions for me?

    I am in Durham NC, and we have very much fluctuating temperatures. We had a light frost last night, but mostly we are warm during the day and my plants are in a protected south exposure area.

    Thank you, Bridgett Ray

    Reply
    • Mike says

      March 28, 2025 at 8:14 am

      Bridgett,

      I don’t think Viburnums are good candidates as hardwood cuttings. Just keep an eye on them. Once they leaf out they might make roots or just fail because there are no roots. Do them as softwoods in late may. http://mikesbackyardnursery.com/2015/01/easy-summertime-plant-propagation-techniques-can-home/

      Reply
  3. Coty Bost says

    December 16, 2024 at 2:16 pm

    I just got a red osier dogwood in a pot and was wondering if it’s ok to plant outside now in December? I live in TN

    Reply
    • Mike says

      December 17, 2024 at 8:11 am

      Coty,

      absolutely, now is a good time to plant. The roots have all winter to start getting established. Any soil temps is above 45 degrees F. root growth takes place.

      Reply
  4. John Wells says

    August 28, 2024 at 2:14 pm

    So would this timeline be accurate for Northeast Florida zone 9 a?

    Reply
    • Mike says

      August 29, 2024 at 6:29 am

      John,

      It is, you just have to adjust the months to the season, your spring is earlier and your dormancy period is later and shorter.

      Reply

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