There wasn’t much time to talk about jobs on today’s show on CRKC as we were too busy talking about #RealBread with Mags Morrissey of Hedgehog Bakery.

The one job I did get to mention was taking hardwood cuttings. This is one job I have on the list for the weekend as I need to ship 150 Willow cuttings and 75 Dogwood cuttings to Wicklow.

Most deciduous shrubs can be propogated by taking cuttings from last year’s growth and it’s a great way to increase your number of plants – for free!

The easiest Shrubs to try include: Dogwoods (Cornus), Buddleja (the Butterfly Bush), Viburnum and even the Rose.

Fruit bushes can also be propogated in this way and we’ve produced Blackcurrant, Red Currant, White Currant, Gooseberry bushes at Croan in recent years.

But it’s not just shrubs, we’ve recently sent some Lime Tree heel cuttings to Cork. As the Limes on the drive here are hybrids (of the large leaf and small leaf limes), they won’t grow from seed and can only be propogated through cuttings. These cuttings should include some of the ‘heel’ which is where the young sucker emerges from the tree, or ideally from a root.

To take a hard wood cutting:

• Take the cuttings before leaves emerge.
• Select growth from the previous season. You want a single stem, with no branches. It should be subtle and not look ‘woody’. Remove the lower buds. Until the cutting roots, you don’t want much leaf growth; a pair of leaves will be plenty.
• Cut just below a pair of buds; about 40cm from the tip for Trees and large shrubs 15cm for smaller shrubs.
• Ideally you should dip the cutting in hormone Rooting Powder which will encourage root growth and will also prevent fungal growth.
• Sink the cutting into moist soil or compost for half or two thirds of its length.
• While the roots develop, do not allow the cutting to get dry at any stage.