As always I’m excited to get new plants through plant propagation and I’m pretty excited to add 5 new dwarf arborvitae to the collection! I bought the ‘Little Giant’ arborvitae (Thuja occindentalis) last fall on the discount rack and planted two of them in the birdbath garden on either side of the pathway to the bench spot. The idea was to create a formal look to the small pathway by placing symmetrical plantings flanking the path. ‘Little Giant’ is a small rounded arborvitae that gets about 4′ in size.
How Long Does it Take to Root Arborvitae?
I took the arborvitae cuttings in August and they took about 8-10 weeks to get to this stage. Right now they only have small tiny roots emerging from the nodes. I transferred the rooted cuttings into 4 inch pots with a soil mix to grow on longer before planting.
Can You Root Arborvitae in Winter?
Arborvitae can be successfully rooted over the winter but rooting tends to be slower. The advantage of taking winter cuttings of arborvitae is that they need a lot less maintenance. The cut ends will begin callusing and you will only need to maintain the moisture levels for your cuttings. They will not dry out as fast as growing season cuttings will. You want to increase rooting speed you can adjust the speed of rooting by adding bottom heat with a seedling heat mat. For cuttings over the winter leave them in their potting medium until they have some good root growth in the spring.
How Long Does it Take for Arborvitae to root?
It depends on timing but generally you should have roots in 6 to 8 weeks. I have left cuttings alone for a whole season before replanting with very good success. If you do your cuttings in the winter you should have roots forming a few weeks into warmer weather. I recommend always to leave the cuttings alone until you see roots emerging from the drainage holes of the pots you are using. That’s usually a good sign that they are ready to transplant.
Here is a more complete step by step post on Arborvitae Propagation.
I’m hoping to take cuttings from our ‘Emerald Green’ arborvitae as well as several other evergreens soon (possibly ‘Otto Luyken’ Laurel, ‘Golden Globe’ arborvitae, and boxwoods).
Growing Viburnums in the Home Garden
For many years now viburnums have been one of my favorite shrubs in my garden. For the most part viburnums grow without issue, add beauty to the landscape, and provide sustainable for wildlife. What strikes me as confusing is why they aren’t more popular in…
Some Good Plants to Propagate with Hardwood Cuttings
I thought I would take a moment to talk about hardwood cuttings. It is the beginning of winter and which is also a great time to go out and try to reproduce many of your favorite woody trees and shrubs in the garden. Many plants…
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…
How to Root and Grow Russian Sage from Cuttings (Plant Propagation)
I’ve propagated many plants over the years and one of my favorite plants to propagate is Russian sage. Yesterday I was able to transplant several Russian sage cuttings (Perovskia atriplicifolia*) into pots to grow for a little while until I can plant them in the…
Plant Propagation: The Basics of Cuttings
One of the most interesting and rewarding parts of gardening is making new plants. Whether from seed, cuttings, or division it is exciting to watch new plants grow into your landscape. For me I really enjoy taking cuttings. If you have never done a cutting…
How to Grow Heucheras (Coral Bells) from Seed
With all the nasty but necessary weather we’ve been having lately it’s been hard to get out in the garden to work. What’s a gardener to do? Talk about the seedlings growing inside! Today I’m going to give you an update on how I am…
Discover more from Growing The Home Garden
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
I had no idea you could root arborvitae. What a great idea. My arborvitae got a bit crispy in the heat and drought this year. I may need this to start new ones off the one that looks the best. Good luck with all your cuttings.
I have Lemon Geraniums and magenta Coleus that I am going to propagate. Both originally came from cuttings and are doing very well in my Southern California garden!
I am going to try this. Never attempted rooting arborvitae.
I remember being quite excited having successfully intuited and laid out our materials needs and I used Alex’s figures for what we would need concerning labor. I had shopped the plant list, found reasonable soil and compost suppliers and received much praise from the owner for my contribution. I was positively aglow and barely able to contain my enthusiasm for the project.