Part 5: Propagation by grafting and layering

6. Propagation by layering

6.2. Tip layering

This type of layering is suitable for plants that have shorter branched which don’t reach so easily to the soil or if you would like to do lots of layers. It works well on blackberry plants.

Drawing of a plant branch bent down with only the tip pegged into the ground with a wire peg.

Amber Crowley / public domain

Method
  1. Choose a 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 short, 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 near the tip, at an internode on the underside of the branch. Rub some rooting hormone into the cut if you wish.
  4. Lay the branch down into the trench and pin it down a couple of inches from the tip with a wire peg.
  5. Cover the branch 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 growth. If strong roots are present cut through the branch, removing it and leaving the new roots attached to the branch tip, and you will have a new plant.