Ground layering can create larger plants faster

The earliest glass jars were wax sealers because they used a layer of wax on top of the food to keep the air out. John Landis Mason, a Philadelphia tinsmith, changed the world of canning - and in a way, gardening - when he invented the Mason jar in 1858.

Most gardeners have heard of the simple Mason jar method of rooting cuttings. Just stick the cutting into the soil and cover it with a Mason jar. Because the cutting has no roots, it has no way of getting water, so the Mason jar creates very high humidity.

There’s an even easier and more surefire way of rooting plants; it’s called ground layering. In ground layering, the stem is bent down and covered in soil where eventually it grows roots. A big advantage is that the new plant continues to receive water and nutrients from the parent plant while it is forming roots.

Natural ground layering often occurs when a branch touches the ground and sends down roots. Blackberries, chrysanthemums, raspberries and strawberries all root naturally this way.

Simple ground layering works well with roses, forsythia, euonymus, magnolia, privet, juniper, pyracantha, rose and viburnum, as well as woody vines such as bittersweet, trumpet vine, wisteria and clematis. You can even layer houseplants such as ivy and philodendron.

Start your layering by bending a low-growing, flexible stem to the ground. The sharp bend will induce rooting. For best results, dig a hole and fill it with a mixture of half potting soil and half sand or half potting soil and half perlite. Perlite is a natural substance that prevents soil compaction and helps hold moisture in the soil.

Strip off any leaves that would otherwise be buried in the soil and make a small cut in the lower side of the bent branch. You can apply hormone rooting powder to the cut.

Cover the bent stem with the potting soil mix and hold it in place with a stone or wire. To keep the new plant in an upright shape, gently raise and support the tip of the branch.

Gently water the planting immediately, and water again after several hours. Water daily for the first week to encourage new roots. Then water every other day for another week.

Since the new plant remains attached to the mother plant, it often roots in as little as six weeks, but it does no harm to leave them attached as long as possible.

If the mother plant is not in a spot where it’s convenient to ground layer a stem , you can even push the branch into a flowerpot filled with half potting soil and half sand or perlite. Remember that pots dry out more quickly than open ground, so you will have to water more often.

Ground layering has several advantages over other methods of propagation. It can create larger plants faster than taking smaller small cuttings or starting plants from seeds. Layering does not deplete the new plant of water and nutrients while the roots are forming. It can also be a good way of topping plants that have become too tall or scraggly, while creating a new plant at the same time.

Free plants without using cuttings or a Mason jar. The results can be a bit, dare we say, jarring.