How to take cuttings: Build a dense, naturalistic garden for less

Learning how to take cuttings is non-negotiable if you want to create a beautiful naturalistic garden.

Why? Because healthy gardens are full of plants. But plants are expensive… if you buy them.

So don’t buy them. Grow them!

In this video, I’ll show you how to take cuttings, from start to finish.

Watch the video and read on for more details:

What does taking cuttings mean?

Before showing you how to take cuttings, let’s clarify what I mean by “taking cuttings”.

Taking cuttings is a form of plant propagation (making new plants from scratch). It involves removing a short section of stem from an existing plant and encouraging it to grow new roots, forming a completely new plant.

That’s crazy, I know. But also amazingly cool.

Taking cuttings is:

An excellent way to produce lots of awesome plants, for almost free
Perfect for spring and summer when there’s lots of fresh growth
Often quicker than growing from seed
A fantastic way to grow plants that don’t “come true” from seed
Easier than you might think

Which plants can you take cuttings from?

Although a huge range of plants can be grown from cuttings, not all plants are suitable.

And this might be hard to hear… but experimentation is part of the learning process here. If it’s any consolation, I’ve taken a fair few cuttings that haven’t rooted, but we live and learn

When that happens, we can always try taking the cuttings again at a different time of the year. Or we can try a different method of propagation, like seed sowing, or division.

With that said, I have some guidance on which plants to grow from cuttings:

Choose healthy plants with fresh, green growth
Avoid taking old, woody growth (for this method)
Avoid stems that are flowering or about to flower
Avoid ornamental grasses (these need to be divided or grown from seed)

Some plants that I’ve grown from cuttings recently include Aster x frikartii ‘Mönch’, Calamintha nepeta, Lamium orvala, Lythrum salicaria, Nepeta govaniana, Perovskia ‘Blue Spire’, Verbena bonariensis, Glandularia corymbosa.

How to take cuttings in four simple steps

1. Take your cuttings

Now you have an idea about which plants might grow well from cuttings, it’s time to take the “cutting material” from your “parent plants”.

My advice is to:

Take more material than you need
Your finished cuttings will be 5 – 15cm long, so try to get material that’s longer than that (because we’ll be trimming them down a bit in the next step).
Pick soft, green growth rather than woody stems
Avoid flowering growth or stems with visible flower buds

Starting with the right material gives you the best chance of success.

Top tip: I walk around the garden with a lidded Tupperware to put my cutting material in. I add a splash of water to the inside of the container. This creates a humid environment and prevents my cuttings from wilting before I’ve had a chance to move onto steps 3 and 4.

2. Prepare your cuttings and push them into the compost

Once you’ve collected all of your material, we need to do two things:

i) Fill the pots with peat-free potting compost

To do this:

Overfill the pots with compost, tap them on the table, brush off the excess compost (I recommend Melcourt SylvaGrow MultiPurpose)
Water the pots using a watering can with a rose attachment

ii) Prepare the cuttings

This is straightforward, but it may take a few attempts to build confidence:

Cut each stem 2–3 mm below a leaf node
Aim to have cuttings that are around 10cm long
Remove the lower leaves to reduce water loss
Leave some leaves at the top to enable the plant to photosynthesise and harness the energy it needs to make new roots
Insert your cuttings into the pots of compost, being careful not to snap them
Label everything clearly so you can tell what’s what

3. Create a good rooting environment

A big part of mastering plant propagation is getting the propagation environment right. Here’s what you need to know.

Your cuttings need:

Warmth (around 20–25°C)
Bright, indirect light (for as much of the day as possible)
Humidity (close to 100% relative humidity)

However, consistency is more important than perfection. So don’t worry if you can’t get things perfect.

As a rough guide, I find that a north-facing windowsill usually provides stable conditions, which work well for rooting cuttings.

I’ll be sure to make a video in the future that shows how you can make the perfect home propagation environment without having to fork out too much cash.

4. Pot-up and grow-on

With any luck, after 1-8 weeks, your cuttings will have rooted (some plants are much quicker than others).

Congratulations! Woo-hoo!

When this happens, the final step is potting up your plants and growing them on until they’ve filled the pot with roots.

Signs that your cuttings have rooted include:

Fresh top growth (always a good sign)
Roots growing out of the bottom of the pot (this is the most important one)

Once they’ve rooted:

Remove the lid/cover (too much humidity at this stage could cause rot)
Leave the rooted cuttings in their pot for a week or two until you’re sure they’ve got strong roots (this will make them more resilient to any damage we might cause when potting-up)
Pot up your rooted cuttings into their own pots (I use the same Melcourt compost that I used before)
Cut back the top growth to a strong bud to encourage side-growth and bushier, more robust plants

Do you take cuttings? Or will you give them a go?

This really is one of the most important skills you can learn as a gardener. I know it can feel like a lot to get your head around if you haven’t taken cuttings before, but it’s easier than you might think.

I’d love it if this video encourages you to give cuttings a go, because I know how much difference this could make to your garden.

So please do let me know if you’re going to have a go. I’d also love to hear which cuttings you’ve had success with already

Happy propagating.

Joe

Picture of Joe Vary <span style="font-weight: normal;">Dip. Hort (Wisley), MCIHort, CMTGG</span>

Joe Vary Dip. Hort (Wisley), MCIHort, CMTGG

I'm a gardener, educator, consultant, and planting designer. Learn with me 1-to-1, or join my mentoring group and community.

This Post Has 2 Comments

Martin Ferber April 30, 2026 Reply

Brilliant vid Joe, – direct, & to the point, informative and funny – your a natural with the camera and microphone, Thanks much!
1. Joe Vary April 30, 2026 Reply
  
  Thank you for the great feedback Martin. I really appreciate it!
  
  I hope your garden is growing along well. Lots of yellow rattle seedlings here which I’m really excited about!
  
  All the best,
  Joe

How to take cuttings: Build a dense, naturalistic garden for less

Watch the video and read on for more details: