DIY Life

Inspire passion in your beloved gardener! Give him/her a living plant this Valentine's Day. When planted and tended with care, it's a gift that keeps on giving, beautifying the landscape for years to come. Here are two Valentine's Day-appropriate suggestions: the willow tree and the rose bush.

The Willow tree: an unexpected Valentine's Day surprise
For a dramatic gesture, how about a willow tree? Willows were traditionally associated with fertility and reproduction. The ancient Greeks, for example, believed willows increased a woman's chances of becoming pregnant and would lay branches from those trees in the beds of infertile women. (Sounds really uncomfortable!) Some Native American tribes also associated willow trees with fertility, laying willow branches in the beds of newly married couples. (Ditto!) Read more here about the willow tree's symbolic value.

We all want beautifully landscaped yards, but have you checked the prices at your local nursery lately? Why line the pockets of another when you can save money by rooting your own plant cuttings, resulting in a spectacular garden for very little money.

If your yard is like mine, you have a few old and wild shrubs and bushes that need to be cut back, but also some bare spots just crying out for some greenery and blossoms.

Logic would have it that you can solve both of your problems if you knew how to use your cuttings to get new plants.

Generally, you can cut a healthy section off of a plant, dip it into a rooting stimulant and use a sterile rooting medium to propagate your new plants.

What, you say? If all that was as Greek to you as it was to me, you'll find The Savvy Gardener's article as helpful as I did. Not only are specifics discussed in easy-to-understand language, but there is a helpful chart that tells you the best techniques for the type of plant you wish to root.

Do you have any rooting tips that have worked in your garden? Do tell.

UPDATE: Looks like the link above has changed or has gone missing. Here's the updated page.