7 Cuttings to Take in September – Before the Window Closes

Gardeners can get lots of free plants by taking cuttings in September. Early fall is a great time to take semi-ripe cuttings and get exact clones of your favorite plants. Whether to expand a collection or as a contingency in case you lose any to winter frosts, take cuttings this month and plant them out next spring.

If you are new to taking plant cuttings, it may sound confusing. In a nutshell, semi-ripe material is current-season wood that has started to harden but not fully firmed. The base is hard, but the tip is soft, and shrubs should have a lot of this material in September. As they are still actively growing in early fall, these cuttings should take relatively quickly.

There are still ornamentals and edibles you can plant in September, but there is always a real satisfaction to growing plants from cuttings. Here is a lovely selection of semi-ripe cuttings to take in September, along with expert tips for success. Get started with a pair of sharp, clean pruning snips (available on Amazon) to take your cuttings.

1. Rosemary

Rosemary is a staple herb for any keen cook to have in their herb or kitchen garden. The aromatic foliage also makes it very popular outside a herb garden, such as lining pathways or making a statement in a container.

Despite being a cold-hardy plant, rosemary will struggle sitting in cold, wet soil over winter. You can grow rosemary indoors in colder climates (US hardiness zone 6 and lower) to protect it from frosts. Or you can propagate rosemary from cuttings and overwinter these indoors, just in case anything happens to your parent plants over winter.

Select healthy, straight, non-flowering shoots 4-6 inches long and remove the lower leaves so only an inch of foliage remains on the soft tip. Dip the end in rooting hormone (such as this rooting powder at Walmart) and insert up to four cuttings around the edge of a small pot filled with well-draining cutting compost.

Keep the cutting somewhere protected over winter, such as in a greenhouse or on a bright windowsill. Ensure the soil remains moist, but not waterlogged, so the cutting can be planted outside come spring.

2. Lavender

Gardeners can easily propagate lavender from semi-ripe cuttings in September. It is a great option if you have a particular type of lavender you love, or have a woody lavender that may need replacing in the future.

As some lavenders are also more susceptible to frosts or damage during cold, wet winters, it is a sensible way to plan for potential losses. If your existing plants survive winter unharmed, you can gift young lavenders to friends and family.

Pick shoots that are brown and woody at the base, yet green and flexible at the tip. Trim them to 3-4 inches long and remove the lower sets of leaves. Dip them in rooting hormone and place them around the edge of small pots; this propagation potting mix on Amazon makes a suitable free-draining soil for cuttings.

Cover the pot with a clear plastic bag to create a humid atmosphere that helps keep the cuttings moist. The cuttings should overwinter in a greenhouse or on a windowsill where they can get bright, but indirect, light. The plastic bag should be removed after the first few weeks, and the cuttings should be potted on once roots have formed.

3. Hydrangea

Hydrangeas are easy to propagate from cuttings in the fall. If you have a hydrangea variety you really enjoy, or want to encourage a friend or family member to grow hydrangeas by gifting them a plant, taking semi-ripe cuttings in September is a great way to do so.

To multiply hydrangeas from cuttings in fall, select a non-flowering shoot and cut it into a 6-8 inch piece. Snip off all the lower leaves, leaving just one set at the top, and cut the remaining leaves in half to help reduce moisture loss. Dip the cuttings into rooting hormone and place them into a pot filled with well-draining compost.

Alternatively, you can propagate hydrangeas in water. To do so, follow the steps above but, instead of a pot of soil, place the cuttings in a container of water and put that in a warm, bright spot on a windowsill. Keep changing the water at least weekly and wait until the cutting has developed two-inch roots before potting it up.

4. Salvia

Gardeners in the know appreciate that not all salvias are winter-hardy. There is a wide range of borderline or half-hardy salvias to grow, including the popular Salvia ‘Amistad’, which flowers for a long time to delight onlookers and attract pollinators throughout the season.

Taking salvia cuttings in fall insures against any potential winter losses and expands a collection. If your salvias are getting older and woody, propagating salvias in this way gives you exact clones to add to borders or pots as replacements.

Pick healthy, non-flowering stems and take 4-6 inch cuttings. Remove the lower leaves, dip the cut end in rooting hormone, and pop a number of cuttings around the edges of small pots. Each cutting should have two-thirds of its length submerged under the soil.

Water gently and cover the container with a clear plastic bag or propagator lid to boost the humidity (you can get nursery pots with humidity domes at Amazon that are ideal for cuttings). Place it somewhere warm and bright, such as a greenhouse or windowsill, and then overwinter the rooted cuttings in a frost-free place.

5. Hebe

Hebes are among some of the prettiest evergreen plants for a garden. The genus contains around 90 different species of low-maintenance evergreen shrubs that flower in summer. It includes varieties with different sizes, leaf colors, and flowers.

Not all hebes are fully winter-hardy, and many are short-lived perennial plants. If you have a unique variegated hebe or a particularly colorful variety that you adore, it pays to take cuttings so you always have plants in your collection, just in case. As hebes will impress in borders or as evergreen container plants for structure and interest, why not propagate new ones?

Take 4-6 inch cuttings of stems where the base is firm, but the tip is soft. Remove the lowest leaves, dip the base into rooting hormone, and put the cuttings into pots of compost – again, you can put more than one per pot.

Once the cuttings have rooted and been potted up into individual pots, keep them in a greenhouse, cold frame, or on a windowsill over winter. But be careful not to overwater the plants, as young hebes are known to rot sitting in sodden soil. A soil moisture tester like this at Walmart can be used to quickly test individual pots to judge when to water plants.

6. Forsythia

The sight of bright yellow forsythia flowers heralds the end of winter. Their blooms are a welcome sight at an otherwise relatively barren time of year.

Such spring-flowering shrubs bursting into life make a big impact and lift the spirits – it is understandable why any gardeners might want to add more to their yard, whether as eye-catching stand-alone shrubs or a vivid hedge. It is not only us who revel in seeing forsythia blooms, as the flowers are also vital early-season nectar for pollinators.

If you grow forsythia, there are lots of options for cultivating new plants. You can take softwood cuttings in late spring, hardwood cuttings in winter, or semi-ripe cuttings in early fall.

When you go down the latter route of taking forsythia cuttings – September is an ideal month for doing this – the plants will develop roots quickly and can be potted on in spring. These plants should then be large enough to plant out later in the year.

7. Fuchsia

There is a diverse range of fuchsias, including hardy and half-hardy varieties. Fuchsias bring vivid color and interest to yards from midsummer through to the frosts, whether in flower beds, container gardens, or hanging baskets.

Gardeners can take fuchsia cuttings of hardy and tender plants in early fall. It is a reliable way to get new clones of your favorite plants, and an easy fallback if any half-hardy fuchsias are unfortunately lost during the winter months.

Select healthy, non-flowering shoots and take 4-6 inch cuttings with pruning snips or a sharp knife, such as this horticultural knife at Lowe’s. As with others on this list, remove the lower leaves, dip the cutting in rooting hormone, and place it in a pot filled with cutting compost – you can get 3-4 around the edge of one pot.

Cover the container with a clear plastic bag or propagator lid and put it somewhere warm and bright, but out of direct sunlight.

What to Shop

September makes a great month for planning the future garden. It is a month for planting shrubs and perennials in early fall to get them established before winter, along with thinking about seeds.

The best seeds to order in September include hardy annuals to sow directly straight away – they’ll put down roots, go dormant, then burst into life and flower early come spring – and perennials that need a period of cold stratification to germinate. Also, there are cold-hardy vegetables to plant in fall that can be sown straight into the soil.

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