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Growing Privet from cuttings
Hello
I am wanting to grow a privet hedge from cuttings and would like some advice on how to do this. Hopefully, I am going to grow a few hundred.
I would like to plant the cuttings in a dedicated area and then to move them when the roots have developed unless I am advised otherwise.
I am assuming I will have to dig the soil and break up all the soil-lumps and make the soil like a crumbly flour. I will dig down a fork-depth. I will add rooting compound to each cutting and I will plant the cuttings 6 inches apart. Water the cuttings once a day using a watering can applied to the roots.
Do I need to add anything to the soil? The soil is clay with flints (Bognor, West Sussex) which currently is covered in stinging nettles and common weeds. I shall weed the soil by hand, no chemicals. I am preparing the site this week-end with my intention to plant the cuttings the following weekend.
Please feel free to comment. Regards Daniel
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Posts
Maybe someone else has rooted them direct.
You should be able to put quite a lot of cuttings in a pot or trough, as long as you are not using tiny pots. Root hormone powder will help, but it's not essential, as Privet roots quite easily.
The most important thing is to get the technique correct.
1) Try to choose only fresh new shoots, there should be plenty right now
2) About 5-6 inches or so in length is fine, don't be tempted to cut very long lengths
3) Nip out the very top leaves at the tip
4) Leave the two or three leaves just below the tip that you have nipped out
5) Remove all other lower side shoots, to leave a bare stem
6) Have pots/troughs of gritty, well-drained compost ready
7) Gently shove your prepared cuttings into the soil, making sure about 3-4 inches of the bare stem is below the soil
8) Water well, and leave in a bright but shaded spot (no direct sunlight). You should not need to water daily, unless the soil shows sign of drying out.
If you have a propagator, or can use polythene to create a greenhouse effect (to give them more warmth), that will help. If you decide to do this, check regularly to make sure they are not too damp, as that can encourage mould. I have found they have a good rate of success compared to some other shrubs.
If you have to plant them directly, then I would remove as much stones/pebble/flint as possible. I would then dig in some well-rotted manure, or good garden compost, to enrich the soil and break up the clay. Remove all weeds, and keep it completely weed free. As you have clay soil, you shouldn't need to water daily, unless it's a warm/dry spell. As mentioned above, avoid planting the cuttings in direct sunlight. Best of luck.
Mine were potted on into 9 cm pots and pinched out for bushiness before being potted on once again before planting when about a foot tall. It wasn't my hedge but we grew about 300 in this way and they are slowly filling out to make a nice hedge but it isn't a super fast process. We did the same with pyracantha and laurel which grew a little faster.
The trouble I forsee with compostable pots is that they will have likely disintegrated before the plants are ready to go in the ground, so you'd be best to root them first before growing them on.
This is a great method for rooting them before potting on to be planted a year to so later but from your plans you may be better direct planting unrooted cuttings in the autumn like you would with dogwood. I've not done this with privet but it works with laurel and might be easier for you.
The biggest downside is it will take quite some years to create a hedge this way as it will growing any hedge from cuttings. You can often get bare root hedging very cheaply in the winter so I'd have a look at that if you need a speedier option.