The Season for Hardwood Cuttings Is Here – 7 Splendid Shrubs Worth Propagating This November

I have always enjoyed taking cuttings and find hardwood cuttings the most reliable way to propagate new shrubs. They are easy to take and usually have a high success rate. If you want new plants, November is an ideal time to take hardwood cuttings, when shrubs lose their leaves and enter dormancy.

You can take hardwood cuttings of deciduous shrubs, fruit bushes, roses, and trees from late fall to late winter. It is a satisfying, cost-efficient way to expand your plant collection, and you’ll get exact clones of your favorite shrubs. They do require patience, but on the plus side, these rugged cuttings require little maintenance, especially if you plant them directly into the ground.

Yes, you can buy new shrubs or trees to plant in November. But also examine what you already have that impresses. You can clone them to add more color or texture to the garden. Here are seven hardwood cuttings to take in November, along with expert tips to help yours root successfully. I always use rooting hormone powder (available at Walmart) when I take plant cuttings. As hardwood cuttings can take months to root, anything that speeds up that process is worth using.

Taking Hardwood Cuttings in November

Once you know how to take hardwood cuttings, you can propagate shrubs, climbers, fruit, and trees for years. You can take cuttings from mid-fall to late winter, while plants are dormant. The good news is that they are reliable, forgiving, and often need little attention after being started.

Take 8-12 inch cuttings of healthy one-year-old wood, making a straight cut at the base below a bud and an angled cut at the top above a bud. Remove any remaining leaves and dip the bottom of the cutting in rooting hormone. The hormone powder or gel is optional but recommended, as it helps speed up root development.

Hardwood cuttings can be put in pots or directly into outdoor trenches. Whichever you choose, bury two-thirds of the cutting below the soil line. Keep the cutting moist, but not waterlogged. It needs to be carefully monitored and kept moist to develop roots and be ready to plant next fall.

1. Gooseberries

When you grow gooseberries, hardwood cuttings are the most reliable way to add more bushes to your garden without buying more. As fresh gooseberries aren’t always common in stores, growing your own heavy-cropping bushes is a go-to way to get fruit for desserts, preserves, or savory dishes.

Yes, you can invest in new bushes, but they won’t bring the satisfaction of picking gooseberries from bushes you propagated yourself. That joy can’t be measured. It does need a bit more patience, but trust me, it is worth it.

Gooseberries want pruning during dormancy, so you can take material for cuttings while trimming the bush. Before you cut anything, ensure your pruning tools are clean and sharp. A good pair of pruners is essential for taking cuttings and pruning fruit bushes – I have used a trusty pair of Felco F2 pruning shears (available at Amazon) for years.

2. American Beautyberry

An American beautyberry is an absolute stunner in the fall. Its arching branches are covered with dazzling purple winter berries that stop you in your tracks. If you want more native shrubs with winter berries, this should be near the top of any list.

If you have a shrub, or a friend or neighbor has one, you can collect seeds or take cuttings to grow another beautyberry. Don’t worry about ruining the display by removing stems; you only need to take a few this month. You usually don’t prune beautyberry shrubs until late winter or early spring, but taking the odd stem or two for cuttings is fine.

The best option for American beautyberry cuttings is to place them in a deep pot filled with a well-draining potting mix for cuttings. One such example is this 3-in-1 soil mix for seeds and cuttings at Amazon. Keep the pots in an unheated greenhouse or cold frame over winter.

3. Spirea

Spirea makes a great landscaping shrub as it puts on a show throughout the seasons. The flowers appear in spring and summer – with different spirea varieties coming in shades of white, pink, or light purple – and the blooms are followed by vibrant fall foliage. The flowering shrubs both look fabulous and are a beacon for pollinators.

The low-maintenance shrubs are very popular and versatile. You can use them in flower beds and borders, planted in large containers, or as a colorful hedge. If you want to use spirea as a hedging plant, it can be cost-efficient to grow many plants from cuttings.

When you are planting a large number of cuttings, the easiest way to do this is to put them straight in the ground. Pick a sheltered spot with well-draining soil and use a garden spade (Available at Ace Hardware) to make a slit in the ground, into which you bury your cuttings around six inches apart. Firm the soil down around the cutting, water it well, and keep the soil moist over the coming months.

4. Elderberry

Elderberry, or sambucas, is a stunning flowering shrub with dramatic foliage, white flowers, and dark berries that are popular for pies, jellies, jams, syrup, juices, and more. It is one of the best shrubs for dark foliage, which can be purple to almost block.

An elderberry is a simple woody plant to propagate from hardwood cuttings. If you can get cuttings from an elderberry bush – whether in your yard, a neighbor’s, or a plant in the wild – there is a very high chance it’ll root successfully. To give it the best chance, make sure each cutting is around the thickness of a pencil and contains two to four buds.

It is possible to root elderberry cuttings in water. Prepare the cutting as outlined above and submerge it in a glass of water, with at least half underneath the water line. Change the water every few days, and wait for roots to form. Once the roots are a few inches long, you can pot it up in containers filled with soil.

5. Forsythia

The bright yellow blooms of a spring-flowering shrub are a welcome sight after a long, hard winter. Forsythia is one of the first to burst into bloom in the new year and warm the soul. For that reason, you may choose to take forsythia cuttings to add more of these attractive, vibrant plants to your yard.

The right time to prune forsythia shrubs is after the blooms fade for the season. But you can take cuttings without hugely affecting the upcoming spring display. Take 6-8 inch cuttings of one-year-old stems, trim them, and dip them in rooting hormone. Place these cuttings into pots and keep them in an unheated greenhouse or cold frame.

You can get a strong polycarbonate cold frame at The Home Depot that is ideal for overwintering cuttings. The cuttings will be protected from frost and heavy rain to develop roots and be ready to plant in the garden next fall.

6. Blueberries

Blueberries are highly nutritious and rich in vitamins and antioxidants. There are many health benefits that come from growing this superfood at home and enjoying the rich blueberry harvests you get each summer.

As you prune blueberries while the bushes are dormant, you can tick two jobs off a fall gardening checklist by pruning and propagating blueberries from cuttings at the same time.

Take 12-inch stems of the previous season’s growth that are pencil-thick. These can be processed into 4-6 inch cuttings and put in pots filled with a well-draining potting mix. It helps to cover the pots with a clear plastic bag to maintain humidity, or you can use nursery pots with humidity domes from Amazon for cuttings.

7. Weigela

Lots of people like growing weigela because the shrubs are easy, reliable, and showy. The tubular spring and early summer flowers are bright, come in a range of vivid colors, and attract hummingbirds, butterflies, and bees.

Weigelas come in different colors and sizes. But often you see a limited range available to buy. The potential uses for weigela include planting the shrub as a wildlife-friendly screening plant. If you have a variety you adore, taking weigela cuttings is a budget-friendly way to get identical plants to expand any shrub collection.

If you opt to put weigela cuttings into an outdoor nursery bed, take care with watering plants over winter and spring. The soil needs to be kept consistently moist, but not waterlogged, as this can cause the cutting to rot in sodden soil. A soil moisture meter, available on Amazon, can be used to check the levels and avoid overwatering the cuttings.

What to Shop

November is a prime month for tidying the garden and also preparing for next year. This includes pruning deciduous shrubs and trees as they enter dormancy to shape them and deal with any dead, damaged, or diseased growth that may pose winter dangers.

Or trimming perennial plants that show signs of disease to stop bacteria or fungi from overwintering in old growth. Our guide to plants to prune in November highlights seven plants that may need attention this month.

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