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TAKING HARDWOOD cuttings is one of the easiest, and sometimes the only, way to propagate deciduous trees and shrubs. This technique is the quickest way to increase your stocks, and requires only suitable plants (see right) and a clear area of garden soil to complete the job. You can take these cuttings between now and early spring, while the plants are dormant. The best time to take them is just as the leaves fall or just before the buds break. In most cases you will take healthy, vigorous stems from one- or two-year-old wood. However with very vigorous plants such as poplar and willow that root very quickly (without the use of rooting compounds) you will need to use ripened shoots from the current year's growth. For the plants that root readily you can take cuttings up to 6ft (1.8m) long if you so choose, and strike them in a nursery bed or similar. For harder-to-root cuttings such as redwoods, figs and laburnums you will need to bundle no more than 10 stems together and push the bottom 2/3rds into a pot of sharp sand. The sand will allow the stems to undergo a period of cold, but will protect them from fluctuations in temperature. Make sure the sand stays moist. Just as the cuttings are about to break their buds, unbundle and strike them in a nursery bed or pot up using a 50/50 mix of garden soil and John Innes No1. ;