How to Cut a Gardenia for Propagation

Gardenias are ideal shrubs for grouping near outdoor seating or in patio containers where people can easily enjoy their intense fragrance. Because of their evergreen foliage, they also make good foundation plantings and informal hedges. Gardenias root readily from cuttings, so you don’t have to break the bank to fill your garden, and the cuttings you take in early summer will come to flower a year or two sooner than seeds planted at the same time.

Things You'll Need

• Hand pruners
• 10-percent alcohol solution

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Instructions

1. • 1

     Take 4- to 6-inch cuttings of new growth from the tips of gardenia stems in early summer. Use hand pruners to cut the stems at a slight angle just below a node, which is the point where a leaf joins the stem.

   • 2

     Remove the lower leaves from the cutting, leaving just two or three sets of leaves at the tip end.

   • 3

     Disinfect the stem by dipping the lower half in a 10-percent alcohol solution.