Shortly after I joined this esteemed magazine, I wrote an article on taking cuttings.
In it, I discussed basal cuttings, taken from the base of plants such as delphiniums, asters, phlox and lupins that send up multiple shoots from their crown in spring.
A few days later, a letter arrived from a reader pointing out that none of the plants I’d featured were basil, and he’d been really looking forward to finding out how to take cuttings of this pungent herb.
You say basil, I say basal, but I still think it remains one of the easiest ways to take cuttings!
Whether you prefer to use early softwood cuttings, semi-ripe or hardwood cuttings, or indeed basal cuttings, the techniques are all variations on a theme, with the same rules applying…