There are some beautiful wild roses nearby, on one of my walking routes. I’ve never
taken a rose cutting before and thought I’d give it a go.
In this video, I’m going to show you how to take a cutting of a wild dog rose, and
the first year of its life.
The first step is to find a dog rose which has some rose hips on display. These can be
found at the end of the year, around october november time.
Take a cutting of a branch, that has a few healthy smaller branches and which contains
some hips.
Use a sharp, clean, pair of secateurs... make a cut like so. Each of the smaller branches
will be planted and, hopefully, will become its own plant.
Take this home, being careful with the sharp thorns. To plant these cuttings, you’ll
need some small pots... your branch... some rooting compound... and some all purpose or
potting compost.
Fill the pots with the compost and firm it down, this is so the cutting doesnt have as
much space to move around, which will keep it secure while it grows roots.
Using a pencil or small stick, make a hole in the compost. Then we need to make smaller
cuttings of our branch, each of which will be in its own pot.
Your cutting should be at least as long as your hand... ideally straight... and should
not be damaged.
We’ll now clean this up by removing all of the side shoots and leaves, leaving just
the end leaf. Then, just off the end of the cutting, above the last leaf like so.
To encourage root growth, dip the bottom of the cutting into the rooting compound... and
then place it into the hole. Firm down the sides a little to secure the cutting in place.
I’m going to take three cuttings in all, and I’ll show another one, just to see the
process again. The the cutting, clean up the leaves, Snip
off the top, above the last leaf, dip into the rooting compound, place it in the hole
and firm it down. My compost was quite damp already. If yours
is dry, give this a water.
Over the winter, all you really need to do is keep them protected. Water the compost
if it gets dry but make sure not to over water or it will risk rotting the cutting. If the
weather is mild, you can keep the cuttings outside but keep them under cover if you have
frosts incoming. Keep them in a sheltered area if you’re expecting strong winds.
Don’t be surprised if the cuttings look like theyre doing nothing over the winter,
and they may not change much from week to week.
Spring is when we should start to see some buds and new growth. Each of my cuttings have
multiple buds but they still need to be kept under cover, and protected, during frosty
weeks.
The buds will grow quicker with the increase in sunlight hours and they should be moved
to a sunny and warm location. For the next few weeks I kept them safe in a coldframe.
About 4 weeks into Spring I did a quick root check but nothing is on show yet, but the
buds are continuing to grow. It was around this time that I lost one of the cuttings
because it kept getting snagged whilst taking it in and out of the coldframe. Keep this
in mind when choosing a location to keep them in and move them as little as possible.
By week 20, the first leaves are unfolding and this will really ramp up the energy that
the plant can take in. More and more leaves will develop over the next few weeks and they’re
really starting to look established.
By mid april, depending on the size of the pot, you should start to see roots showing
through the drainage holes. This indicates that the plant is ready to be moved into a
larger pot.
This is straightforward and pretty fun. Grab some larger pots and fill the bottom with
compost. Put enough in so that, when the smaller pot is put inside, the tops of the pots are
level. With the smaller pot left inside, fill the larger with compost.... Being careful
not to damage the cutting.
Press the compost down as you go, to remove any air holes.
Remove the smaller pot, leaving a very pleasing hole, the same size as the smaller pot.
Turn over the smaller pot to remove the cutting and squeeze the sides of the pot gently to
help the plant slide out if it’s being stubborn. Catch it as it does, like so.
Then, drop the whole thing into the hole and gently firm it down. You can top up the pot
with extra compost if you need to. Place the pots in a tray of water, and leave for 15
minutes for the compost to soak up as much water as it can.
With more nutrients and room to grow, the plants will grow quickly over the next few
weeks. Don’t let the compost dry out, now that we have warmer, longer, days and keep
these pots in a sunny location.
Oh and keep an eye out for aphids, which will be attracted to the new growth. Rub or knock
them off the leaves, being careful not to shake the cutting around too much.
As we get round to summer, the growth will speed up and lots of branches and leaves will
start to grow. I’ll let the next 10 weeks speak for themselves.
Autumn has come and the plants are almost ready to go in the ground. They’ve grown
really well this summer and it’s hard to think that they were just a stick in a pot
to start with.
When planting out into their final position, choose an area which is sheltered, against
a fence or a wall and has lots of vertical space for growing.
Clear away any mulch and then dig a hole the same depth as the pots. Make sure the top
of the pot is level with the soil surface... and then remove the plant from the pot by
turning it over and squeezing the sides to ease it out again. If you have lots of roots
coming out of the drainage holes, this can make removing the plant a little more difficult.
Untangle these and the plant should slide out.
If the roots are very tangled, you can loosen these, which will help the plant to root down
into the soil. Place the plant into the hole... and sweep the soil back around to fill any
gaps. Press down with your foot, to secure the plant in place and to stop it moving too
much in the incoming windy weather. To protect the plant from frosts, i’d recommend covering
the soil around the plant with mulch or manure.
I’ll show me planting the second one so you can see the process again.
I hope you found this video useful and it encourages you to try taking your own cuttings.
If you have any tips or advice for others, please pop them in the comments so we can
all benefit from your experience.
Thank you to my patrons for their support and you can find more information in the description
if you wanted to get involved. Here are some other videos you may enjoy, including this
video on training climbing roses into a simple fan shape.
Thank you for watching, and happy growing