Sitting in a deer blind, during the recent heavy snows, was the perfect time to reflect on the habitat improvements and tree and shrub plantings undertaken on my own property. During the last eight years, acres of switchgrass, tall grass prairie, and thousands of shrubs and trees have been planted. In the spring of 2021, I conducted an experiment to see if creating habitat through cuttings could be accomplished with little to no cost. The process of stem cutting uses a section of outer branch from the parent shrub to create a new plant with a separate root system.
“There are more life forms in a handful of forest soil than there are people on the planet.” Peter Wohlleben
The experiment to increase the browse and cover on my property led me to research red-osier dogwood (ROD) cuttings. I read articles and watched videos to get a basic understanding of the process. My goal was to multiply the number of existing shrubs in my woodlot. The woodlot underwent a timber harvest approximately 4 years ago. One of the issues with natural regeneration in the woodlot was an explosion of sedge. The sedge creates dense mats and prevented adequate regeneration of trees and shrubs. Instead of looking at the sedge as a problem, I viewed it as an opportunity to plant the desirable tree and shrub species that I wanted.
Red-Osier Dogwood
Red-osier dogwood was one the first shrub species planted on my property. These were the shrubs the cuttings would come from. The growth rate, attractiveness to whitetails, and winter beauty of this dogwood made species selection easy when choosing to propagate through cuttings. The research for dogwood cuttings stated four things: take cuttings before leaf out, stem size should be about ¼ inch (pencil sized), cuttings need to be last year’s growth, and to insert the stem in moist soil.
Taking Cuttings
The dogwood cuttings were taken April 12th through the 18th. Pencil sized stems were harvested and immediately placed in a bucket of water. The site chosen for ‘planting’ consisted of a large wetland complex dominated by sedge. Cuttings were removed from the bucket, a 45-degree angle was cut into the stem portion that would be inserted into the ground. It is necessary to have at least 12 inches of stem to work with. The stem portion will have several nodes or buds, the nodes placed below ground will develop roots and the nodes above ground will develop leaves. The cuttings were inserted as far as they could be pushed into the ground, usually 6 to 8 inches. Twenty-four-inch tree tubes were placed on a small portion to help monitor growth and survival rates.
Race Against Time
Once the cuttings are ‘planted’, it is a race against time for the cutting to survive. The cuttings have only so much energy to survive. It is a delicate balance for the cutting to produce roots and have enough energy to leaf out. If roots don’t establish, the cutting will dry out and fail.
The Results
Maintaining moisture to the roots is the most important variable in survival rates. If you remember, there was a period of 40 days where we did not receive any rain this past summer. An initial assessment during this droughty time would put my survival rate at about 25 percent. Putting some of the cuttings in tree tubes allowed me gauge the success or failure of the cuttings easily. Later in the summer/early fall, after we received some timely rains, an amazing thing happened. Cuttings that didn’t previously have any leaves, began to leaf out. The cuttings that completely dried early in the year most definitely did not spring to life. But I was surprised to see the survival rates for the cuttings move closer to a 50 percent. My best success with dogwood cuttings happened when there was a single stem and it did not have any side branching. Which makes sense, the extra branching on stems would require additional energy for leaf out.
Red-osier dogwood is not the only species that can be grown by cuttings. Other dogwoods, willows, elderberry, witch hazel, and others can be propagated from cuttings. Cuttings require moist soils, if you have dry soils, cuttings can be grown in pots and transplanted after root establishment. Root growth hormone can also be used to help the cuttings develop roots. Planting with cuttings is just a fun way to experiment and I will definitely be hauling buckets of cuttings this spring.
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