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A gardening knife or secateurs; a supply of small pots; a supply of multi-purpose or special cuttings compost; a hormone rooting powder; labels; watering can with a rose; a plant propagator; cold frame.
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Look for healthy shoots of the current seasons growth. These will be green and fleshy at the top, with the older, firmer wood at the bottom. With your knife or secateurs cut off a shoot, at an angle, about 20 - 30 cm long. The cut should be made just below a leaf node - the point on a stem where leaves grow from.
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Cut side shoots from the main stem. Reduce the length of the shoot to about 15 cm, cutting just below a leaf. Remove the lowest pair of leaves.
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With a clean bladed gardening knife, make a wound by carefully scraping a piece of bark about 2.5 cm long on one side of the base of the prepared cutting. Dip the base of the cutting in hormone rooting powder, shaking off the excess.
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Either fill a small plastic pot 3/4 full with compost, or fill the base of a propagator with the same. Prick a hole in the compost with your dibber or pencil and insert the cutting. Identify your cuttings with a label. Water the cuttings when you have finished. Place pots in a cold frame, or put the propagator on a cool windowsill or greenhouse.
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They should be left for over wintering. Check them regularly. Remove any leaves and debris that get blown onto the young plants. Check that the compost does not dry out. You may want to insulate a cold frame from frost with hessian or bubble wrap.
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Before being planted in your garden a cutting will need to grow on for about a year. Pot the young plants on into larger pots the following spring. Continue to keep these in a sheltered spot, to get them acclimatised to garden conditions.
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