Propagation

Breed Your Own Gladiolus Hybrids

Fine Gardening — Hybridizing is a snap to learn, yet can challenge even the experienced breeder Creating new gladiolus hybrids is so easy and so rewarding that it can quickly become an obsession-which is exactly what it is for me. Even so, I still find it ...More…

Timing is important

Fine Gardening — Mastering these techniques is the best way to get more plants for free To lift a perennial with minimal root damage, begin digging at its drip line. The roots will generally extend that far, so digging there lets you lift the plant with most of ...More…

Getting started with seeds

Fine Gardening — Because this bunch is simple to start, you'll save money and get more plants Home gardeners often assume that starting perennials from seed is more difficult than sowing annual flowers or vegetables, when, in fact, it is as easy to start a ...More…

Nurture Seedlings on a Tiered Growing Stand

Fine Gardening — This inexpensive, homemade stand holds 20 flats under fluorescent lights A dozen or so years ago I became frustrated with the range and quality of our local garden center's plant offerings. I thought that I could start the plants I wanted from ...More…

Lighting Seedlings

Fine Gardening — Sowing a packet of seeds in the winter is uplifting, but without a good source of light, seedlings will become weak and spindly. In this video, Barbara Pierson, of White Flower Farm in Litchfield, Connecticut, covers the basics of lighting seedlings.More…

Grow Your Own Conifers from Hardwood Cuttings

Fine Gardening — It takes a little patience, but the technique is straightforward and gives good results The propagation areas of commercial conifer growers are often awe-inspiring sights. Long greenhouses are covered from ridge to eave with opaque white glazing. ...More…

Starting Wildflowers from Seed

Fine Gardening — Knowing when to keep them wet, dry, warm, or cold helps you to coax these woodland seeds to grow Raising your own plants from seed is like brewing your own beer or knitting your own sweaters. It is a commitment to immerse yourself completely in ...More…

Garden Vagabonds

Fine Gardening — With these self-sowers, what you lose in control you gain in adventure The vagabond plants that roam around my garden range from tiny to head-high in stature, from drought-tolerant sun-lovers to woodlanders that thrive in shade. By observing ...More…

For more seed-starting tips

Fine Gardening — How a practiced propagator gets seedlings off to a healthy start Few gardening pursuits are as rewarding as growing your own plants from seed. As the nursery manager at the Thomas Jefferson Center for Historic Plants at Monticello, I have started ...More…

Save Money and Grow More Plants with Tip Cuttings

Fine Gardening — I take cuttings three times a year: in late spring or early summer, to increase my stock of plants; in late summer, to create plants to overwinter indoors; and in early spring, to grow new plants that will be ready for the garden when ...More…

Grow more plants with root cuttings

Fine Gardening — Use this simple technique at the right time to multiply some of your favorites The major benefit of root cuttings is the simplicity of the process. Four easy steps can produce a large number of plants without requiring fancy equipment. This ...More…

Jump Start Your Seeds

Fine Gardening — Use these tricks to speed germination then plant up some pots Columbines brighten both sides of my shady, front-yard path. The little congregation on one side came as plants from a catalog, while those on the other were nurtured, by me, from a ...More…