UF/IFAS Shares New Guide to Propagating Landscape Plants from Cuttings

UF/IFAS Extension Hillsborough County published a new plant-propagation guide on September 22. It explains how gardeners grow additional landscape plants from stems and leaves. Cuttings preserve the parent plant's genetic traits.

The guide pairs plants with suitable cutting types. Gardenia and American beautyberry suit softwood cuttings. Cocoplum and firebush suit semi-hardwood material. Choosing the right method matters more than treating every shrub alike.

Start with vigorous material and clean tools. Remove leaves from the lower stem and place it in a moist rooting medium with good drainage. Rooting speed varies from weeks to months. Supplemental rooting hormone is useful for some species, rather than a requirement for all.

For your Tampa garden, identify the plant before collecting cuttings. Follow the linked UF/IFAS guide for its specific method. Call a specialist at Ecoscape for help selecting plants for your landscape.