It is one of the amazing things about trees and shrubs. Many have the ability to produce roots no matter how long (or short) the cuttings are. Willows, for example, will root even if you stick in pieces six feet long, and so do many other species. Nature gives them a built-in ability to help them survive. In the case of cuttings they can survive as exact replicas of their parent.  Nature also helps them survive by means of seed in which case the offspring bear characteristics acquired from each parent. Anyway, most gardeners learn that every part of a plant may be used to produce roots.

Now the case that I used just now (that of the weeping willow) was dealing with a plant from hardwood cuttings. Many of our garden plants can be propagated by using such cuttings; about eight to ten inches long, as thick as a blackboard chalk. Without any doubt the best way to root them is to insert them in pure sand. They will root in…..