Gardening for Free—or Almost
How to save money by employing three of the easiest propagation methods
Text & photos by Neil Soderstrom

Instead of buying new plants each year, or even new seed packets, consider a few simple propagation options, such as (1) seed collection, (2) root division, and (3) stem cutting. Besides being virtually cost-free, these age-old propagation methods can give you stronger, healthier plants, as well as earlier plants. Each method also lets you expand your planting beds quickly and exchange plants with neighbors.

Collecting Seed
Use only true species. That is, avoid hybrids, which are labeled with a "cross" symbol (×) in the name. Hybrid seed will either be sterile or its plant won't "come true," instead resembling one or more ancestors. Such reversion also results from seed of cultivars, which are vegetative clones of one parent, usually indicated in single quotes, as in Cleome 'Colour Fountain.' In cleome's case, however, reversion still gives you a spectacular flower that deer won't bother.

Seeds from annuals and herbs deliver plants in their first year, so they're easier to experiment with than seed from perennials and wildflowers, which may take more than a year to germinate. Also, wildflowers are picky about their sites. Besides, you can usually grow perennials more quickly and strongly from cuttings or root division.

Among the many annuals suitable for seed collection, my wife and I continue to favor nasturtium, cosmos, and cleome (a.k.a. spider flower)--all self-seeders. Justifiably favored by Claude Monet in his gardens at Giverny, nasturtiums become increasingly spectacular from mid-summer till the first hard frost, spilling into pathways and climbing over walls--not to mention their appeal to hummingbirds, their peppery lift to salads, and their resistance to pests and diseases.

In her comprehensive New Seed-Starters Handbook, Nancy Bubel also recommends self-seeders calendula, marigolds, nicotiana, portulaca, and snapdragon. And she's had good luck with seed from ageratum, alyssum, aster, coleus, four-o'clocks, geraniums, impatiens, morning glory, stock, sweet pea, sweet William, and zinnias.

Most of the popular herbs also germinate well from collected seed, except French tarragon, which isn't viable. Mints hybridize so readily that even "the seeds listed in catalogs fail to come true to type," according to Nancy Bubel.

Ideally, wait until the seeds are "ripe" before attempting to collect. This is usually after flower petals have fallen and seed capsules (or pods) have begun drying, turning brown, or splitting. However some flowers, such as the impatiens, "shoot" seed from green pods, so you may need to attach bags beforehand to catch seed.

Save seeds in paper bags or envelopes, leaving those vessels open for a couple of weeks to allow seeds to dry. Friend and gardening guru Miranda Smith explains, "Seeds of many plants native to cold-winter areas require chilling to at least 40°F for at least six weeks before they will germinate, and some seeds require freezing or alternate freezing and thawing. To be safe, store seeds in sealed jars in the freezer or refrigerator." Some people add silica gel to ensure that seeds gain no moisture in storage.

Dividing Perennials & Bulbs
Perennial bulb plants (tulip, narcissus, crocus) are usually called "bulbs" to distinguish them from other perennials, which instead have fibrous or tap roots. When the underground parts of bulb plants and perennials become overcrowded and starved for nutrients, the plants themselves begin to lose vigor and produce fewer flowers. Thus, it's smart to reduce overcrowding every few years by dividing these plants. And because these divisions are vegetative clones of their parent, they will grow true to cultivar. The bonus is new "divisions" you can plant elsewhere or trade with neighbors.

Some underground clumps grow so tightly and strongly together (daylilies, catmints) that you may need to pry them apart with digging forks or cut through them with a sharp knife or spade. Others, such as hardy geraniums (cranesbills), can usually be worked apart more gently with your fingers.

The trick for keeping track of names is to label the divisions as you remove them. In most cases, you should keep divisions damp and replant them into new holes promptly so they don't dry out. For this, prepare planting holes beforehand. Exceptions include tender perennials, such as dahlia tubers and canna rhizomes, that can't survive freezing and so need to be dug in late fall and over-wintered indoors in peat moss or sand in temperatures above freezing.

Another exception is iris, whose old rhizomes become spongy and are susceptible to borers, and so deserve special surgery and "disinfecting" before transplanting, by soaking them briefly in a 1:10 solution of household bleach and water.

Taking Cuttings
Here, we're talking about cloning. Even though animal cloning is relatively new and controversial, "plant clones are as old as plants themselves," reminds Ken Druse in his gorgeous coffee-table book Making More Plants.

Indeed, leaves and branches of many plants can fall to the ground and sprout roots. And if you bend a stem of various plants against the ground and weight it there, it may well sprout roots. (Such cloning is called layering.)

Like layering, propagation by means of cuttings relies on growth hormones in plants that are capable of generating new, adventitious roots wherever they might serve to advantage. New leaves and shoots are especially rich with these hormones. Still, in order to sprout roots, some cuttings need a little boost from commercial growth hormone.

For most garden perennials, you can cut 6-inch tips of tender new stems and leaves in spring and then remove the bottom leaves, leaving their nodes, and then stick the stem into sterile rooting medium, such as seed starter, and find roots sprouting within a couple of weeks. From many plants, you can continue taking and starting such cuttings throughout the year.

Adventitious rooting is readily demonstrated when you immerse a tomato stem in water. Soon rootlets appear all along the stem, further reinforcing the value of stripping the lower leaves from tomato seedlings and burying much of the stem section along with the original roots in order to create nourishing roots all along the stem.

Neil Soderstrom is a gardening writer and photographer based in Wingdale, NY, also found at www.agpix.com/soderstrom.

* The picture above shows Kathy Nelson collecting seeds of wild senna in November. Kathy is based in Gaylordsville, CT. For her plant catalog or driving directions, phone (860) 355-1547.