Privet Propagation Puzzle?

Being a newbie to gardening, I waltzed along to the garden centre the other day in search of some privet saplings, expecting to buy perhaps a dozen foot-high plants to start off a hedge.

Well, all they had was three or four plants about twice the size and for £6 each. Too much money, not enough plants. So I bought three, but decided to try and propagate a bunch more by taking cuttings from our back garden privet hedge.

I just don't know if I'm doing it right - or frankly even if it's possible.

I took half a dozen cuttings ranging from about 30 to 50 centimetres, trimmed any side shoots off the lower half, cut a split up from the bottom of each stem for about 2cm. Then I planted them in pots full of compost and watered generously. They are on the windowsill in the conservatory which gets quite a lot of sun, but we pull the blinds and open the door if it gets too hot, and keep the compost fairly damp at all times.

That was just over a week ago. The largest of the cuttings is still alive, but looking a bit sorry for itself. The smaller cuttings are dead, I think.

Is there any more I can do? Will this work at all?

Advice much appreciated.

L.

 

Louis, years ago we used to just cut some bits off from a hedge and poke them onto the ground where you wanted them to grow.
Nine times out of ten it worked.

I think they would root better outdoors this time of the year, just find a shady corner and slip a dozen or so cuttings, of slightly woody growth, into the ground and water in.
Stand back and see what happens.

Your better off going somewhere that specializes in hedging plants, rather than a garden centre, which is more likely to only have specimen bushes.

 

Slighty O/T but I had a distant memory of my grandparents starting privet hedges that way but wasnt sure it it was a real memory or just something i had imagined. Sounds like it must be a real one thanks Pete

 

Remember doing it when I was a kid.:D

 

OK, I'll do that. Not as if it's a difficult proceedure

 

Accept that you will get a fairly high failure rate so aim off and put in twice as many cuttings as you think that you will need! The main requirement is to water fairly frequently until they take.

 

Would layering not be a more sure method of propagation?

And you can get buxus at around £1 each for a 10-12" high at the DIY centres, not large but cheap and patience can save a fortune. Otherwise I would advise a visit to a local nursery(a small one), by the time you are done you will feel positively ripped off at agrden centres.

 

You do not need to split the stem at the base though and the problem with your original system was that it was far too hot for them. They need light to continue growing, but not so much that they dry out before they can take up moisture from new roots. It is a race between rooting and rotting! Not tried privet as we have no need for a hedge, but something like Box gives 99 percent success rate in the right conditions.

 

Hi louis

I don't know if you have managed to get your privet cuttings to take yet, but they propagate easily from semi-ripe cuttings at this time of the year.

Semi Ripe Cuttings Tutorial

Alternatively if you have a plant nursery near you, wait until November and you can then buy them bare root. They'll be a fraction of the cost of the potted ones. You could also try searching on google for 'Bare Root Hedgeing' I came across this site on the first page under that term.

http://www.thegarden.co.uk

They are selling them for 90p each plus £5.95 postage. By the way the scientific name for Privet is Ligustrum ovalifolium incase you can't find it under privet.

Paul

 

That's an excellent tutorial on taking semi-ripe cuttings Sid well found.:thumb: