IT’S cuttings season, when gardeners take cuttings from their plants to increase stocks of their favourites – but not all plants root well from cuttings.

Some plants, including acer, forsythia, daphne, viburnum, rhododendron, azalea and camellia, may do better through layering, a technique in which layers of healthy stems remain attached to the parent until roots have formed.

Layers occur naturally in the garden when low-growing plants are heavily mulched, thus partially burying some of the branches.

Plants including ivy and campsis naturally self-layer, with shoots touching the ground rooting and forming new plants. But in most cases, the gardener has to provide some input into layering chosen species successfully.

Spring is the best time for layering, although it can be done at any time apart from winter.

Choose a flexible young shoot of your chosen plant which can be bent down to ground level, preparing the soil where it is going to touch by digging in wellrotted organic matter, such as compost mixed with sharp sand.

Strip the leaves from the area of stem to be layered.

Make a long, sloping cut towards the shoot tip, cutting only about a third of the way through the stem at a suitable point in the underside of the branch, then wedge the cut open with a matchstick and dust it with rooting hormone.

Make a shallow depression in the soil just below the shoot, then bury that section of the stem into the prepared soil 5- 7.5cm (2-3in) deep and peg it firmly in place with two strong wire hoops, one each side of the cut, then secure the growing tip to an upright cane and cover it with compost.

As the layering is done at the base of the shrub, the greatest danger to rooting layers is lack of water, so give it a thorough watering and, if necessary, work some water-retaining material into the soil.

Leave it for at least a year until new strong growth is visible and the plant resists when tugged, which shows that it is well rooted.

Most layers should have rooted by the following autumn, when they can be severed from the parent plant and grown on in pots or a nursery bed until large enough to plant in their final positions.