MAY is one of the most beautiful months of the gardening year and the ideal time to take soft wood cuttings from new growth on plants and shrubs.

In the autumn, there are semi-ripe cuttings to be taken and in winter, hardwood cuttings.

Mark Skelding, from Stourbridge College, explained it all, weighed down with buckets full of branches and stems for members to practice on and take home to grow in their gardens, greenhouses and on kitchen windowsills.

There was lively debate about the merits of different types of compost, whether or not to use hormone rooting powder and environmental concerns around producing rock wool and vermiculite from basalt rock. Members plan to visit Mark at his workplace in The Leasowes, near Halesowen, a beautiful 57-hectare park laid out by the poet William Shenstone between 1743-63.

For more details, call the secretary on 404813.