Fixing A Broken Branch Or Stem

Accidents happen all the time in the garden, nearly always to our favourite plants. Why this should be, I don't know. Another mystery. Anyway, enough said. How do we fix a stem if it breaks? It depends.

• woody perennials (trees, shrubs e.g. forsythia)
• tender perennials (will grow all year but frost-susceptible e.g. geraniums)
• herbaceous perennials (everything else which comes up from roots year after year e.g. lupins, delphiniums)

WOODY PERENNIALS

Branches rarely break away completely from the parent. They usually hang in limbo looking untidy, leaving the dilemma as to whether to bind it back in position or remove it completely and go from there. Some advice:
BIND IT BACK
Broken limbs, not completely severed, are rather like broken human limbs. Setting and binding them back into position early enough will usually work well. Of course, we don't use plaster of Paris on plant stems; we use garden twine, or wire - or even a pin or two - even splints, if necessary. The binding must be tight enough to bring the surfaces back into contact and to provide firm support. This is essential. Remember to remove binding once healing has occurred, or lateral secondary growth (stem thickening) will be impaired.

PROPAGATE NEW STOCK
Not so easy with woody tissue, but new plants can be propagated by layering (not covered yet) or by taking hard wood cuttings, or semi-ripe (even soft wood, in some cases) cuttings. It's a matter of using whatever method you are familiar with that works. These either are or will be dealt with elsewhere (use search box).

TENDER AND HERBACEOUS PERENNIALS

Because there is no secondary thickening (I'll be telling you about this later), these don't heal like woody plants. So they can't be bound and left. So must propagate new stock. Fortunately there are several options:

• shoot tip cuttings (used for tips of non-flowering stems (sometimes will work if flowering))
• basal cuttings (used if stem broken away from base (needs a bit of base plate with dormant buds)
• seeds (used when too late to propagate by other methods. problem that they might not come true, if from hybrid stock)

ROOTING MATERIAL

Garden Soil
Surprising how often pushing a shoot tip into garden soil produces results (e.g. geraniums, fuchsias, dahlias). It's always worth a try. Works very well on broken branches torn away from stem and containing a heel (base of stem includes a little bark from main stem where it was torn away).

Perlite and Water
Gives results for most occasions. Very useful for semi-ripe tissue (starting to turn brown). Seems to work with almost anything. This was described last autumn when used to propagate flowering fuchsias.

Water
Plain water often gives results, especially on woody tissue. It can give brittle roots which are slow to establish when later potted into soil or compost. We used this last year to propagate a triphylla fuchsia. It can even be used on geraniums.

Compost
Although potting compost might be best, just ordinary multi-purpose seems to work quite well, especially if some sand or perlite is added to give aeration. Though, until recently, I have always used plain compost. This method has been described several times, especially propagating dahlias and fuchsias.

MORE ADVICE

This post is very basic. Best to research propagation of your particular plant. However, for what it's worth:

• Always use as sharp a knife as possible (preferably a razor blade or craft knife) to cut a shoot tip cutting below a leaf node. A clean cut helps prevent cell damage, which induces rotting.
• Hormone rooting powder is often useful, though not usually necessary
• Keep cuttings in good light, out of sun and not too hot