How to Propagate Hardwood Cuttings of Russian Sage

The other day I had an idea.  Instead of taking my pruned Russian sage branches and just dumping them in the compost, I thought what if I tried to make cuttings from them? I’ve propagated Russian sage cuttings very easily in the spring from softwood cuttings and even some during the summer but I’ve never tried hardwood cuttings.  This may just be an exercise in futility but it’s worth an attempt if I manage to get a few more good plants before spring starts in earnest.

Propagating Russian Sage through Hardwood Cuttings

I took hardwood cuttings from two of our plants in the front sidewalk garden.  Both of which had significant hardwood stems from the previous year’s growth.

Russian sage hardwood cuttings

While I was prepping the sand in it the container for the cuttings I put them into some water to prevent them from drying out.

Russian sage hardwood cuttings
sand for plant propagation

Then I dipped the stem cuttings into the rooting hormone and stuck them into the sand.

Russian sage hardwood cuttings

Last I made sure sand was wet and put them into a sunny window.  We’ll see if it works.  I would do the same technique with red twog dogwoods or any other hardwood cutting.  There is potential for success but you never know!  Free plants are definitely worth the effort.

SUCCESS! Here’s the post on the successful rooting of Russian sage from Hardwood cuttings.

10 thoughts on “How to Propagate Hardwood Cuttings of Russian Sage”

  1. Good luck with them! I am debating on whether I will cut my Russian sage back. It gets a bit of shade so I keep thinking the more sticks the better the photosynthesis. I may regret it.

  2. I’ve just followed read this post (excitedly) and followed your previous links… Thanks for all the tried-and-true information. I hope this woody stem experiment works. At least there’s nothing much lost in the trying! 😉

  3. It seems you’re always up to something Dave! Which is one of the reasons I keep coming back here. I should do an in-depth article on propagation some time. Perhaps even interview you for it. ;~)

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