As a blooming solitaire or as a decorative hedge - the hawthorn is a rewarding and beneficial garden enrichment. So wanting to increase it is understandable, but not easy.
Propagation from cuttings is not easy but possible
Restrictions on propagation
Hawthorn can be propagated by:
- sowing
- finishing
- cutting method
The crux of the breeding background: seed poverty
Since the hawthorn is a cultivated form of the two-pronged hawthorn that focuses on the appearance of the flowers, there are a few difficulties in the chapter on propagation. The numerous, filled, crimson umbelliferous flowers of Crataegus laevigata 'Paul's Scarlet' are beautiful to look at and also valuable bee pasture. But they are also limited in fertility. Their stamens have been transformed into petals for the sake of the optics, which means that fruits are only very rarely formed from them.
The disadvantage for propagation plans: You will only be able to harvest your own seeds with a little luck. Of course, if you catch a favorable flowering and pollinating year, you can try it. The seeds are stored over the winter and placed in seed soil in the spring. However, you have to expend a lot of patience and perseverance in caring for them to germinate. It can take several months before the seeds, which are not particularly germinable, produce anything.
Refinement only for experienced people
Hawthorn is propagated most effectively by grafting. However, this is an undertaking that requires expert practice. If you have never finished it yourself, you should either get help from someone experienced or hire a professional.
Hawthorns are refined on their breeding ancestor, the hawthorn. So you take a hawthorn as a base and graft a hawthorn cutting behind the bark.
Propagation from cuttings is worth trying
What is definitely not complex and therefore does not involve wasted effort is the cuttings method. Here you only have to pay attention to a few small things and do not need to invest an excessive amount of time, which would be a shame if you failed.
In summer, cut off an already slightly woody shoot about 15 centimeters long with a diagonal cut and remove both the leaves and all the blossoms. In this way you relieve the cutting of all energy-sapping elements and increase the chance of rooting. Put the branch prepared in this way in a planter with soil and keep it moist. Roots can develop in a bright location. Wait until the rooted cutting has produced a healthy, strong picture with new shoots before planting.