Take a layered approach to grow new plants

 Layering is good for propagating plants which are difficult to root from cuttings, such as rhododendrons or magnolias. The technique can be done any time except for winter.

 The way it works is by inducing roots without actually cutting the shoots off the plant. You need to select a flexible young branch which can be bent down to ground level and make a shallow hole just underneath it.

 Prepare the soil by forking in plenty of second-hand potting compost or an old grow bag into the ground nearby, or alternatively sharp sand and well rotted organic matter, making a shallow trench.

 Strip the leaves from the area of stem to be layered then make a shallow, sloping cut part way through the stem to help it bend and encourage rooting, dust the cut with rooting powder and push the stem 2-3 in deep into the soil, holding it in place with either a piece of bent wire or pegging it with a forked stick to hold it down, then cover it with soil.

 You also need to secure the growing tip – which must be left uncovered – to an upright cane.

 Most layers should have rooted by the following autumn, at which point they can be severed from the original plant and grown in pots or a nursery bed until they are large enough to put in their permanent position.

 Shrubs that can be layered in this way include Berberis, Camellia, rambling roses, Arbutus, evergreen Azalea

and Gaultheria.

 Serpentine layering is a similar technique, except that multiple layers are made from the one stem, and it is mainly used for climbers with long, supple stems, such as Clematis and honeysuckle.

 Basically, the trailing shoot should be laid along the ground and the leaves and sideshoots from every second or third leaf cluster should be stripped.

 Wound the stem near to where the leaves have been stripped and again apply rooting powder before pegging the sections down in shallow holes in well prepared soil. In time, they should produce root and produce shoots which can later be severed from the original plant and grown separately.

 Another technique, called air layering, is used mainly for house plants which are difficult to root, such as ficus. You do it by placing moist compost around a stem and keeping it in place by wrapping thin polythene around it.

 You need to use the equivalent amount of compost that you would for a 4in-6in pot, making an upward sloping cut through part of the stem below the leaf joint (but not more than halfway through the stem), propping it open with a matchstick and dusting it with rooting powder, as you would for outdoor layering.

 You will be able to see that the shoot has rooted when roots can be seen at the edge of the plastic. Then you can cut through the stem just below the roots and pot up the young plant, being careful not to damage the roots.