Heavenly

[Manalto]

I've only propagated a rose once, a sentimental favorite of a friend whose family cottage was being sold and demolished, and the rose along with it. (I think it may have been 'Cécile Brünner' - one of the most commonly available roses, but i understand the attachment.) In the spring, I took multiple (3-4") cuttings of stem - the part in between the tender green growth and the woody older growth is best - still green, but not soft. I include at least one bud, and cut the root end at an angle and the top square to the stem - this is force of habit; with roses it's pretty easy to tell which end is up from the buds. Crowd the cuttings in a pot with potting soil (don't use garden soil or they'll rot) with about 2/3 of the cutting in the medium; you can fit a dozen or so cuttings in a 6" pot. Water thoroughly and keep the pot under a shrub in a shady spot where you'll remember to give it a drink once in a while. Keep it damp but not wet. (The surrounding vegetation helps keep humidity high, too.) Once the cuttings start to grow (there will be some that don't) give them a gentle tug - if there's resistance, you're starting to get roots. Pot those up individually, move them to a sunnier spot and let them get a little bigger before planting them in the ground. Mulch generously the first winter; oak leaves are sturdy and offer good protection.

Another technique is called "layering" - scrape some tissue from the underside of a cane (you can just use your thumbnail), bury it shallowly in the soil - still attached to the mother plant - then weight it down with a rock. In a few weeks, the damaged part of the stem should develop roots. Once it does, it can be severed from the main plant. This is best done in the spring and left in place for a year so it develops a strong root system. It's easy to test for root formation by lifting the rock and seeing if the cane is anchored to the ground.

[Lily left the valley]

I never would have thought about cutting angles to remember which end is up! Sad that such common sense things are not "taught" much anymore. For all the gardening sites I've visited, not once have I seen that mentioned.

[phil]

thanks James. I have some other plants nar the roses that are probably easy to propagate like rosemary, thyme and sage. I was sort of trying to bend over the sage and plant it mid way , thinking I could just get more going that way, but I might also be able to just take some of the mother plant along with the roots. It smells nice and behaves itself ( unlike me , so it might be ok to get some out in the planter in the front of my house. the traffic is crazy noisy out there so I just want something that can look after itself. If I look at what the gardeners that look after commercial spaces do that's probably pretty much what I want there..
it would be fun to try to propagate the roses or start more. They also seem good at being neglected and still survive.
My neighbor gave me some roots from something he digs up every year. Ill see how I do with that. he's retired with a beautiful garden but he puts way more into it than I can find time for. If it lives I might try to dig up the root ball in the fall, as he did, and maybe learn something from it.

[Manalto]

Whenever I plan a garden for somebody, during the discussion stage the most common thing I hear is, "I want something low maintenance." (I think to myself, "Who doesn't?") The three big time hogs are: pruning/shearing, leaf/fruit drop, and introducing a new plant to the landscape. Vancouver has a lot of beautiful hedges (at least they did when I was nearby in Washington State in the 1990s) but any hedge will require pruning annually if not more often. (A dense evergreen hedge of yew or holly will help to muffle street noise reaching the house, however.) Cleaning up leaves or fruit is easier if you have planting beds to rake them into where they can decompose - or you can choose evergreens or trees with tiny leaves. I didn't even mention those species that are susceptible to pests and diseases because I don't consider them for use nor do I recommend them to others. Roses are a major culprit here, but some of the old fashioned varieties (like 'Cecilee Brunner') will do just fine on benign neglect. Ask your neighbor with the nice garden to make recommendations for someone who doesn't have a lot of time to devote to maintenance. Also check out some of the more attractive plantings around commercial spaces; those tend to be bullet-proof varieties that don't need coddling. The plant palette for Vancouver is large indeed. You've got plenty of wonderful choices.

Planting something new requires an establishment period. Nursery plants only have root systems the size of the pot they're in or, if they have been dug from the field, a radically compromised root system. You can't expect them to immediately tolerate a hot dry summer; they need time to get established. There's an old gardeners' saying, "water once a day for a week, once a week for a month, and once a month for a year." That's not exactly accurate but it does point out the need to be vigilant with a new plant until it can survive on its own.