Taking sedum cuttings

Yes. I finally remembered. You know how it is when you are super busy with chores and tasks and plans and dreams. And you forget that there is a teensy window of opportunity to get a vital job done.

For me that’s getting more sedum plants. And that means taking cuttings at just the right time.

And this year for the first time in ages, I actually caught them at just the perfect moment of growth.

The easiest way to get new plants is to take from established ones. But for sedums – stone crop, a brilliant drought resistant stalwart of this garden, you have to pull off outside shoots of the just emerging stems. Last year I forgot and had to work fast as the stems were growing too tall.

There is a technique in getting new plants. And that takes practise. Luckily I have dozens of plants on the terrace bank, in the planters in the courtyard and in the lilac bed, and I don’t feel too guilty when I mess up and snap off a few shoots.

You have to find an outside shoot and press your thumb under the soil to pull off a shoot with a few roots attached.

You can see some successful ones in the main picture. Once you have a selection, you strip off the lower succulent leaves, leaving just a few at the top, and then place them in some old compost that has a low nutrient value around the outside of a pot.  Water well once and then leave them out of direct sunlight somewhere you can keep an eye on them.

For me that’s underneath the groaning central table in the potting shed. If all goes well they will root in just a few weeks and I can pot them up and grow them on for another month. Don’t you love how simple gardening can be?