Sneaky Xmas gifts + cuttings for yourself!

Not my idea, but it is worth sharing.

If you want to get new varieties of perennials (eg currant bushes, berries etc...) buy nice presentation pots at the garden center. Take hardwood cuttings for yourself ( say 10 per plant) and give the parent plant away to a good home.

They will be delighted by an interesting variety in a nice pot, you get to increase your own stocks.

This week I pruned a single established red currant bush and managed to stick around 50 cuttings. I also stuck roses, buddleia, forsythia, gooseberry. Hopefully a good proportion will take.

I've bought a nice cultivated primocane blackberry that I'll be planting out and cultivating from, as well as red currant and black currant bushes. I hope to take lots of cuttings and supplement some of the local hedgerows and verges with some gorilla gardening. These won't be gifts but I hope to immediately increase my stocks by cuttings over the winter.

I like the way you think!

Well, they would need pruning anyway before planting, so you're saving the receiver of the plant a chore!