If you're watching your budget and want to increase your plant stock without spending money, late autumn is the time to take hardwood cuttings from many deciduous shrubs.
By Hannah Stephenson
Stocks of roses, willows, weigelas, dogwoods and philadelphus can all be increased through hardwood cuttings.
It can be done in the garden, and although the cuttings will take a year to root, it's worth the wait as you will produce large specimens ready for planting out or potting up.
Cut woody shoots from the base of the current year's growth, making a straight cut below a leaf joint and a sloping cut at the tip above a bud and angled away from it to leave the cuttings 20-30cm long.
The base can then be dipped into specially-formulated hormone rooting powder.
Make a slit trench in a well-cultivated, vacant plot by pushing a spade backwards and forwards to create a V shape in the soil, with added organic matter.
Push the cuttings in vertically, 30cm apart, firming the soil back around them with your heel along each side of the row and closing the trench. Water in well.
By next summer, the cuttings should have produced sideshoots, and in autumn you'll have tough, bushy plants ready for transplanting to your chosen spot.
Hardy plants can be rooted in a sheltered part of the garden or in a pot of soil-based compost in a garden frame over winter, putting them outside in the spring.
There are many other ways of propagating plants, including dividing clumps of grasses, herbaceous perennials such as hostas and wild geraniums (cranesbill).
The best time to lift and divide is the spring, just as growth is beginning, or late autumn, as the plant's foliage is dying down for the winter. Tough perennials such as Michaelmas daises can be divided in the autumn.
Hostas and agapanthus also do well from dividing in late autumn. As hostas have such dense, congested roots, just lift the plant - root ball and all - and split the clump using a sharp knife.
With old, congested plants, you may need to cut out the old woody centre of the clump which doesn't have many strong roots, retaining the stronger roots on the outside of the plant.
The divided plants can be planted at a depth the same as previously grown, the hole infilled with a soil-based potting compost which will retain more moisture. Firm it with your heel to stop air pockets around the plant. They can then be watered in well and left to settle.
If you want to increase your houseplant stock, leaf cuttings may be taken between spring and late autumn and are particularly suitable for propagating African violets, Begonia rex and streptocarpus.
With African violets, remove a whole young leaf complete with stalk and push the stalk into a pot of seed compost until the leaf rests on the surface.
Place the pot in a heated propagator, and within around six weeks a new plant should have formed at the base of the leaf. When it is about 2.5cm high, separate it from the old leaves and pot it on in a soil-less compost.
The leaves of Begonia rex can also be laid flat on a tray of compost, with the stalk removed. The main veins should be cut using a sharp knife and the underside of the leaf secured to the compost using cocktail sticks or fine wire. Keep the compost moist to create humidity, but don't wet the leaf or it may rot. If kept humid, a young plant should form at each nick.
Soon enough, you will have increased your stock of plants both inside and out, without having to break the bank.
Best of the bunch - Miscanthus (Silver grass)
This ornamental grass creates movement and texture in the autumn garden, and different varieties range from 60cm to 3m, so there's at least one for every garden.
It's not evergreen, but its green colour lasts well into winter, when the tufts of gold or straw or bronze look fantastic dusted with frost.
Good varieties include M sinensis 'Zebrinus', which has horizontal broad gold stripes, while M sinensis 'Kleine Fontane' has gently arching leaves and silky flower spikes in autumn. In spring, cut down the foliage to make way for new growth. Miscanthus does best in full sun in moist but well-drained soil.
Good enough to eat - Chicory (Cichorium intybus)
This salad crop goes well in a bowl of mixed leaves, its bitter taste adding bite to many salad combinations, and it is relatively cold and drought-resistant.
There are three types: witloof, which grows as a rosette of leaves forming a deep root that, when harvested, can be forced in a warm, dark spot to produce chicons (white, leafy buds); red chicory, also known as radicchio, which forms hearts; and sugarloaf, again a heart-forming type.
Chicory thrives in an open, sunny site, does well on poor soils and needs little fertiliser. Sow Witloof in late spring and early summer for forcing in autumn, while red and sugarloaf varieties can be sown from mid-spring to late summer.
It can be grown in short rows on the vegetable patch or allotment, and is also ideal for raised beds and large pots.
Spring sowings are best raised in modules in warm conditions, then planted out under fleece or cloches. Red and sugarloaf varieties can be grown as cut-and-come-again crops by sowing indoors in late winter, spring and autumn, or outdoors in summer.
Good varieties include the red type 'Jupiter' and 'Pain de Sucre', a hearted sugarloaf.
Three ways to... make the most of pot mulches
1. Use small shells on the surface of pots in coastal gardens to create a seaside atmosphere.
2. Try out coloured glass gravel in contemporary containers. It works well with thin-stemmed plants such as bamboo, where a lot of the top surface of the container is on view.
3. Create an interesting layer of pattern and texture in-between plants with low-growing habits. For instance, pink pebbles may look good with succulents.
What to do this week
:: Renovate old lawns or create new grass areas by laying turf.
:: Order seeds for next year.
:: Apply a thick layer of mulch over the died-down crowns of tender herbaceous plants to ensure their return next spring.
:: Replant hanging baskets with spring-flowering bulbs, winter heathers, trailing ivies and spring bedding plants.
:: Raise patio containers on to bricks or purpose-made pot feet to avoid them sitting in water during the winter.
:: Remove autumn debris from alpines and cover the soil surface with extra grit to encourage their regrowth.
:: Control powdery mildew on plants by cutting back fading growth, rather than by spraying, which is less effective at this time of year.
:: Rescue tender water plants and remove any dying foliage. Place the plants in trays of deep mud or damp sand, or even in a bucket of water, keeping them in a frost-free place such as a conservatory or greenhouse, until the risk of frost has passed.
:: Plant bare-rooted deciduous trees and shrubs, as well as root-wrapped evergreens.
:: Check softwood and semi-ripe cuttings taken earlier in the season. They may need potting on.
:: Start winter pruning on apples and pears to shape trees, thin out congested growth and remove damaged branches.
:: Cut down the tops of Jerusalem artichokes and carefully dig them out of the soil, cleaning and storing them in paper bags in a similar way to potatoes.
