IT’S no secret that the cost of creating the perfect garden full of dazzling flowers can soon add up.
But it turns out there’s an old school trick you can use to get loads more plants for free.
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The hack was recently shared on Facebook by gardening expert Anya Lautenbach – and all you need is an old plastic bag and some string.
In the viral video, Anya showed the step by step process, and it’s loads easier than you might think too.
All you need to do is use a sharp knife to gentle scrape of the skin off the step of your roses.
“Select a healthy, pencil thick stem and remove about 1.5 cm of the bark,” Anya explained.
Then simply wrap a piece of plastic around the stem where you’ve removed the bark – an old plastic bag will do the trick for this, or whatever you’ve got to hand, but Anya advised against using plastic.
Next, use some string to attach the the plastic by wrapping it around the bottom of the stem.
“Add some peat free compost and squeeze it gently so that the wounded part of the stem is in direct contact with the compost,” she said.
You should be left with a cone shape, so you can fill the plastic with moist compost without any falling out the bottom.
Once the stem is surrounded wit the compos use the remaining string to tie to top of the plastic together.
After that, you can wait for the magic to happen as you continue to look after your rose bush has normal, keeping the compost moist.
In four to six months time you can take off the plastic and you should be left with loads of new roots.
You can chop this off from the main plant and start a brand new one.
According to Anya, this clever trick has been around for centuries, so it really is tried and tested.
She explained: “This is one of my favourite forms of propagation dating back to 4000 years ago.
“I love it because it only takes 5 minutes of my time and all the magic happens in the background.
“Unwrapping the bag after few months is truly amazing. It feels like unwrapping the most precious gift. Yes! Roots are a true gift to me!”
Gardening tips and hacks
