Once you have a forsythia in the garden, you don't have to worry about cuttings. Propagating forsythia is very easy and even novice gardeners can do it without any problems. This is how you can create beautiful forsythia hedges that bathe the garden in a sea of yellow flowers.
How can you successfully propagate forsythia?
Forsythia are best propagated by cuttings or planters. Cut half-ripe cuttings in July and August and plant them in garden soil or potting soil. Alternatively, lower a flexible shoot, cover it with soil and cut it off and dig it up next spring.
The different options for propagation
Forsythia can be propagated in three ways. However, sowing is more of a theoretical possibility that is not used in practice.
- Cuttings
- Lowers
- Seeds
Propagate forsythia through cuttings
Propagate forsythia through cuttings is the easiest way to grow new bushes.
To do this, cut half-ripe cuttings 10 to 15 centimeters long from the plant in July and August. The lower part should be slightly woody.
Remove buds, flowers and the lower leaves and place the shoot in the desired location in garden soil. The first roots will form within a few weeks.
Pulling cuttings indoors
If it is no longer warm enough outside, you can also grow the cuttings in pots with potting soil (€6.00 on Amazon).
Place the containers in a warm, sunny place. To keep the soil evenly moist, wrap cling film around the cutting. You must ventilate this cover once a day to prevent the soil and cuttings from becoming moldy.
The following spring you can plant the small forsythia on site.
Acquiring offshoots by lowering them
Because forsythia roots so easily, deadheading is a very popular form of propagation. Make a small groove in the ground next to the bush.
Choose a flexible shoot from the previous year and score it in several places with the knife. Gently bend it down and place it in the groove.
Secure the shoot with stones or tent pegs and cover it with soil so that the tip remains free. It is tied upright to a plant stick so that the new bush grows straight up. Next spring the offshoots will be separated and planted out.
Growing forsythia from seeds
The forsythias planted in this country are hybrids that almost never produce seeds because the flowers are dry. The bushes are therefore not fertilized by bees or other insects.
Even if fertilized seeds have formed in a few exceptional cases, sowing is not recommended to propagate the plant.
You will definitely not get a pure new plant. The cuttings usually have completely different properties than the forsythia variety you want to propagate.
Tips & Tricks
If you place forsythia branches in a glass of water, the shoots at the bottom may form new roots. Plant them in a pot with potting soil. In most cases the propagation works quite well.
