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Part 5: Propagation by grafting and layering

6. Propagation by layering

6.3. Trench layering

This technique is often used for fruit trees.

Diagram showing branches of an established plant buried until new shoots grow up through the soil

Amber Crowley / public domain

Method
  1. Plant your fruit tree at a 45 degree angle and leave for a year.
  2. Bend the whole tree down towards the soil surface and pin down.
  3. Dig a wide shallow trench which will fit all of the branches you would like to layer into it. This might be all the branches on the small tree, or just some of them. Add some well-rotted manure or garden compost to the soil in the trench to improve it.
  4. Slice through the bark of the branches at internodes on the underside of the branch. Rub some rooting hormone into the cuts if you wish.
  5. Lay the branched down into the trench and pin them down with wire pegs.
  6. Cover the branches in soil improved with compost or well-rotted manure.
  7. In 6-8 weeks dig away some of your soil and check for root and shoot growth. If strong roots are present and a shoot is growing at each place the branch was pinned down then cut through the branch between each new shoot, making sure you have roots attached to each shoot.