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Young Arborvitae Tree
First, make sure the parent arborvitae you take your cuttings from is healthy and disease free. It's best to take cuttings to propagate from a mature arborvitae in late to midsummer or early to late fall. - 2
Garden Clipper Pruner
Next, using a sharp garden clipper, cut as many branches from NEW growth on the parent arborvitae tree as you want to propagate. These branches should be cut about 5 inches long. After you've clipped all the cuttings you want, you will then need to remove the lowest bottom leaves on each branch, leaving a fair amount of leaves at the top of each cutting. It's very important to keep the new arborvitae cuttings moist following the cutting process. This will prevent them from losing too much moisture before planting them in your soil. - 3
Planting Propagated Tree in Soil
The next step is to plant each arborvitae cutting in your garden soil so they can develop their new roots. You should plant cuttings immediately after cutting them. It's a good idea to add reliable root starters to your cuttings at this point. Choose a site where they will have full to partial sun. Arborvitae cuttings do best planted in coarse sand with good drainage. If you're propagating more than one arborvitae to plant in a different area later on, space the new cuttings far enough apart so they have plenty of room to grow without touching each other. This will give the arborvitae clippings an extra boost in growing new roots. - 4
Watering Wand
After your arborvitae cuttings (clippings) are planted, water them right away using a gentle spray. Then, water regularly after that to keep the soil nice and moist, but not soggy. Continue water throughout the growing season in your area. Watering is not needed in cold winter months. Your newly propagated arborvitae will be ready to transplant by the following spring.
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