Laying

Laying, or LAYERING, a mode of propagating trees, shrubs, and perennial herbaceous plants which is very frequently employed by gardeners and nurserymen. It consists in bending and fastening a branch, so that a portion of it is imbedded in earth, there to throw out roots, the extremity being made to grow erect in order to form a new plant. The separation from the parent plant is not effected till the layer is sufficiently provided with roots. Any injury which prevents the free return of the sap greatly promotes the formation of roots, and a notch is therefore usually made in the under side of the branch, at the place where the formation of roots is desired; it is also often a little split up from the notch; and sometimes a ring of bark is cut off, or a wire is twisted round it. The time which must elapse before the layer should be separated from the parent plant is very various; a few weeks being sufficient for some, and two years requisite for others. Many plants which cannot readily be propagated by cuttings are more easily and successfully propagated by layers.