Improper Propagation – The Easy Way to Get More Plants

When I was training to be an RHS gardener propagation was very complicated and precise. There was kit involved. Things like sterile pots, special compost, hormone rooting powder, plastic propagators and dibbers. There were cuttings of all manner – hardwood, softwood, semi-ripe, heel, root and probably toe. Now I’m a proper gardener things are very different.

That’s because I’m a proper cottage gardener and can just make things up as I go along.

This is what happens:

I wander around the garden wondering which of the myriad of tasks I might do next. I see a shrub that has a dangly bit, or a branch that is hanging over a path, or is just a little larger than I might expect. I pull my secateurs out of my back pocket. I always have my secateurs in my back pocket which sometimes causes embarrassment when I arrive at the pub, cinema or other non-gardening venue. I trim the offending branch. I hold the offending branch in my hand and suddenly it is no longer offensive but a poor lost plant looking for a home. I wander around the garden wondering where a nice new dogwood/box/philadelphus etc etc might look nice. I find a spot. I stick the not-so-offending branch in the ground, trim off a few extra leaves, and leave. Mostly the not-so-offending branch grows into a new shrub.

A few years later I’m wandering around the garden and see a shrub with a dangly bit … . As the years go on I notice and excess of shrubs and so have to trim them to a more appropriate size. I hold the trimmings in my hand and wonder what to do with them. Luckily I have pots. And friends.

Knowing your Onions, Chives and other Allium

I’ve been moving plants about. Mostly chives. Two of my little triangular veg beds have borders of chives. One border of ordinary chives and one of garlic chives. But the beds had the creeping Mare’s Tail problem so in a drastic action was needed. I dug everything out of both of them.

Being a true cottage gardener I can’t let anything at all go to waste, let alone things to eat. Or pretty things. Or just things. So much re-planting, potting up and eating occurred.

You can also buy ornamental onions, when they like to call them alliums but of course all those oniony, chivey, leeky sorts of things are alliums. And they all share a secret flaunted only by the ornamentals. Beautiful flowers. Just let any of the family go to seed and purple, pink or white flowers appear. The leek flowers are stunning, reaching above a meter high. Not only that but you can cut them and they will last years.

Just cut the flower on a long stalk, put them in a vase and forget to put any water in. They should last about a year, or two, or as long as you leave them.

A little neglect goes a long way.

What’s In in Weeds This Year

Every year different weeds seem to be in fashion in my garden. This year stickywilly is a big hit, having ensconced itself in very numerous locations. It most enjoys sticking itself to you, your clothing, other plants and family pets. In the twenty years I’ve been gardening here I’ve never had this one before. Another favourite is Mare’s Tails. I’m not so taken by surprise with this one as, like middle-age, it’s been constantly creeping up on me for many seasons. It’s an ancient plant with a prehistoric heritage and cunningly camouflaged roots making it nigh impossible to dig out.

They say a weed is just a plant in the wrong place. I would dispute that. A weed is just a plant that believes in eugenics. It thinks that really, your garden would be best simply planted with only itself. A monoculture of stickywilly.

When something first appears in the garden I certainly tend to look upon it as a happy accident of fate. An innocent wildflower that longs for domesticity. I leave it alone. Sometimes even nurture it. Some plants respond with general floriferousness or at least an inkling of decorative foliage. Welsh poppies, hart’s tongue ferns, primroses and sweet rocket have all arrived unbidden but not unwelcomed. Others have started all innocent and cute but soon showed their true colours and general megalomaniac tendencies. Woundwort, Herb Bennett, wild raspberries, ash trees and even what might be considered a lovely addition, wild strawberries, are now all enemies of mine simply because of their selfishness.

Other plants arrive from the garden centre, or a plant sale, cunningly disguised as prime garden specimens only to reveal themselves as weeds that you’ve paid good money for. This year I am fighting what appears to be a losing battle against bamboo. It’s hard to understand why pandas are an endangered species since bamboo (their basic foodstuff) is so very virulent, strong and can push up through tarmac, paving and any weed-suppressing membrane invented by man or woman.

And sometimes the battle is just too much. What used to be a weed gets re-categorised as jolly garden plant. This year I’m embracing dandelions.