Taking cuttings and Dead head

The above heading may sound like a firm of Solicitors but in fact but it is how I spent a bit of time today.

April 4th: Things I have been doing today.

🌻 Deadhead your bulbs. It is time to show no mercy to spent bulb flower heads’ so deadhead like The Queen of Hearts – off with their heads! As soon as bulbs flowers have died back, cut the heads off straight away to ensure they do not waste energy on making seeds. Leave the stems and leaves in place and let them die back over the next few weeks and water only sparingly. We will come back to sort them out in a few weeks.

🌻 Take cuttings. This is all getting a bit gruesome! Now that everything is springing into life, this is the ideal time to take cuttings either to expand your garden and get free plants, or, to give to friends and family who may have admired a particular plant. Today I have been taking cuttings of Dame de Noche and Spiderwort. The best time to take cuttings is in the early morning or evening. Take a sharp knife and cut just below a leaf node (secateurs tend to crush tender stems). Remove all the leafs from the stem leaving just 2/4 at the top. Then dip into rooting hormone – liquid or powder. Don’t worry if you don’t have this. Place into a pot of well watered compost’ place three or four cuttings around the edge of a four inch pot (this helps rooting – don’t ask me why, it just does). Place the cuttings in a light sheltered position – not in direct sun. Hopefully in 3 or 4 weeks we can look at these again.