Propagating evergreens from your own garden is one of the more advanced things you’ll do in the garden.
These can be tricky but here are a few hints.
Evergreen Seed
Treat evergreen seed exactly as shrub seed or big perennial seed. indoors.
You’ll often find seeds in cones or falling off your evergreen plants and there is absolutely no reason why the seed they contain can’t be grown.
You do have to remove the seed from the cone, simply planting the cone isn’t going to work. And if the cone is “green” – some evergreens drop immature cones – it’s useless for sowing.
If you don’t want to start them indoors, then simply find a spot in your garden where they won’t be disturbed and sow them approximately one-quarter inch deep. Mark the row with stone or some other heavy marker that won’t be moved. Watch for the tiny green shoots to come up in late spring. Note, it may take two years for all the seeds to germinate so don’t dig the bed up if nothing happens the first year. But if nothing happens the second year, they’re dead and you can use that space for something else.
Cuttings from Dwarf and Named Varieties
Some evergreen shrubs, particularly the dwarf varieties, are produced from witches brooms (abnormal growth on normal plants) and if they produce a seed, it will likely resemble the parent plant more than the variety.
You’ll have more success propagating these plants by using Hardwood cuttings.
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