If you’re feeling super festive, take a bit of time out this Christmas to increase your lovely holly plants! Hardwood cuttings are usually taken from deciduous plants around this time of year, using leafless stems from this year’s growth that has wooded up – but you can take the same sort of cutting from some evergreens, too.
It’s always a reliable way to propagate and most of your attempts will root successfully, if you deal with your cuttings straight away and quickly pot them up, keeping an eye on the general health of your cuttings.
They need to remain ventilated, lightly moist and in a light position – a greenhouse with bottom heat will be fine, or a windowsill with a clear plastic bag over them. Holly can be a little tricky or take a while to root – wounding the end of your cuttings with a knife may help.
Check for any moulds that may occur, and remove dead or diseased cuttings or it’ll make for an unhealthy environment for any of the rest that haven’t been affected.
Keep the compost damp and check for rooting next year.