Hardwood cuttings

How to do it

1. 1Take them between leaf fall and midwinter, from this year's growth that has ripened to roughly pencil thickness.
2. 2Cut lengths of about 20cm: straight across below a bud at the base, sloping above a bud at the top. In February, when nothing has moved, those two cuts are the only thing telling you which way up it goes.
3. 3Slit a trench in a sheltered corner, put 5cm of sharp sand in the bottom, and push the cuttings in so only the top third shows.
4. 4Firm them in, label them, and then leave them completely alone for a full year.
5. 5Lift the rooted ones the following autumn and plant them out or pot them on.

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