House herbs on the cutting edge

ONE can never have enough herbs to snip from. 

Taking cuttings from your own and friends’ plants is one good way of bulking up and broadening the range of herbs at your disposal. Having a reserve of perennial herbs makes sense, as, often, a straggly specimen may need replacing and, by this form of propagation, you are sure to produce exact replicas of the parent plant for free.

Summer is a great time for taking herb cuttings and these can be split into two categories — softwood cuttings and semi-ripe cuttings. Softwood cuttings use the young, tender, new growth of the season and are taken from spring right through to late summer. However, earlier in the season is preferable, as conditions are ideal and chances are that a good root-ball will be formed before the winter.