By Gardener Jack

Plants employ many forms of propagation - seeds, corms, bulbs, rhizomes, suckers, etc. - but the one that allows replication of shrubs needs a little human input. A cutting taken from a mature shrub will readily root and one parent plant can provide many independent offspring.

Just about all stems and branches of shrubs and small trees have nodes or growing points. Above ground these produce leaves and branches; below ground they produce roots.

This is the main principle behind cuttings. Take a section of branch and bury the lower end in the ground. Roots will develop underground and leaves, later branches, will be produced above ground.

The plants most usually propagated by ...

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