I have layered some of my Dianthus to get more ‘Pinks’, the plants not the colour. A long stem is pinned to the ground with a bent wire like a hairpin and new roots are formed in late summer.

Layering a wide range of shrubs trees and climbers can get you lots more plants cheaply. This method encourages new root growth whilst a stem is still attached to the parent plant.

Some plants send runners that can be rooted.
Other plants send out suckers that can be used for new plants

How to Layer to get new plants

• Find a supple stem of the chosen plant in spring for evergreens
  • Bend the stem down to soil level creating a U shape or 45 degrees to the parent and vertical for the stem.
  • Remove leaves and side shoots except the top 12 inches or so.
  • Cut the stem about half way through or take out a sliver at the point where it meets the soil
  • Form a shallow hole 5 inch deep and peg the stem down with a wire hoop to the soil and mound over with soil and compost.
  • When there is evidence of strong new growth sever from the parent plant and grow on. Probably 12 months to be on the safe side
  • Try Acers, Roses, Rhododendron, Forsythia, Lilac and Azaleas by this methods

• Tip layering just needs the tip of the stem to be planted in the ground. A blackberry or raspberry will quickly root and form a new plant.
• Air layering is for stems that are not flexible.
  • Make a plastic tube out of a bag and slide it down a stem gently over the leaves
  • Make an upward cut in the stem and wedge it open with a match stick. Or strip off a ring of bark with a knife.
  • Tie the bottom of the bag below the cut and fill with moist moss
  • Tie the top of the bag around the stem
  • Useful for indoor plants like rubber plants

  

• Long lengths like clematis or wisteria can be pegged in more than one place to form more than one plant from the one stem called serpentine layering. Allow the stem to float above the soil where not pegged down
• Mound or French layering is building up a pile of soil over young stems of a shrub in spring and waiting until they take root. This can be used for Spirea, Cornus, Daphne and Cotoneaster. Split and replant during the dormant season
• Runners and offsets can be rooted whist still attached to the main plant. Strawberry plants grow this way and should be encourage to grow roots on a runner if the stock is beginning to age. Sempervivum are also propagated by offsets.