Re: `Peppering`

This may be a daft question but is 'peppering' the same as 'layering'?

Hello

Not a daft question at all ... I ask it myself.

I don`t think it is the same.

It`s a different method of propagation than Layering or French Layering.
The plants roots are buried 10" (mature plants) thats much deeper than is advised by the experts, they say to cut Clems hard back, these are left with as many nodes as are needed ,.. the nodes have their own 4" of soil in which to produce roots ....
I think that with the roots being down 10" the plant will be healhtier.
When flowering finishes I will seperate the Clems in pic 3 and have 10 new vigorous plants .. and all just taking only a couple of months .

My question is ... would layering produce this ... thx peter

I can't remember the name of this process, but not heard it called peppering. You can use it to get lots of new plants from a badly lanky one - so Lavender, Rosemary spring to mind.

I think it is a good way of getting new plants, layering is probably more successful and useful for larger plants that cannot be buried.

I've seen "dropping" recommended for renovating overgrown heathers. The tips of all the branches produce new plants.

You've lost me Beattie.

If you have a very large heather with lots of leggy woody stems one way of improving it is called "dropping" as I'm told they don't take well to being hacked back.

You dig a very large hole, dig up the old heather plant with as much rootball as possible, and drop it into the hole. Then you backfill, filling up the spaces between the branches with earth so that just the tips of the branches of the old heather plant are sticking out of the earth. The theory is that each of the branches will form a lovely new plant which will grow away and you can split them up if you want to once the new roots have formed well.

It all sounds like too much digging to me - unless you've got a JCB handy.

But it's using Peterpep's technique for renovating old plants but on a much larger scale. No doubt if heather plants were bendy climbers and amenable to being coiled round in a pot that's how they'd be propagated and renewed too.

I think your plants are impressive Peter.

Thx Drc726

I`m having an email debate on and off at the moment about `Peppering` with the R.H.S. .. Any views from GOY good or bad is a great help. ... peter

I have found covering Clematis and Potentilla with a deep layer of compost can bring back both plants from very poor conditions.

I've got a headache...If I bury my head in the sand will I wake up with six heads.?????? It all seems very complicated to me. Think I should by a new plant.

I can confirm that the clematis I 'peppered' has 2 tiny little shoots appearing - one is around 1" and the other is just popping it's head out of the compost as off this morning - I examine it every day!!
Photos will follow when it gets a bit bigger and more shoots hopefully!!