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Part 5: Propagation by grafting and layering

6. Propagation by layering

6.4. Serpentine layering

This technique is suitable for plants with long and bendy stems and several layers can be made from a single stem.

Diagram showing long branch pinned down into soil in loops at each cut internode with stem between these above the soil

Amber Crowley / public domain

Method
  1. Choose a long branch that will bend down to ground level without snapping. It is easier if it a branch without too many side shoots.
  2. Dig a long, shallow trench (about an inch deep) in the soil along the line of where the branch will lie along the ground. Add some well-rotted manure or garden compost to the soil in the trench to improve it.
  3. Slice through the bark of the branch at internodes on the underside of the branch. Rub some rooting hormone into the cuts if you wish.
  4. Lay the branch down into the trench and pin it down in loops so that each cut internode is pinned to the soil, and in between the stem loops up above the soil surface level.
  5. Cover the branch in each place it is pinned down to the soil with about 1 inch of mixed soil and compost or well-rotted manure.
  6. Steak the tip of your branch up so that it is protruding out of the soil in a vertical position if it is very bendy, otherwise this is not always necessary.
  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.