Why is it eco-friendly to propagate your own plants?

It is important to do cuttings, firstly because you are saving money. Also, propagating your own plants reduces global warming. This is because you are not using petrol by driving to the garden centre to buy plants and the lorries are not taking so many plants to the garden centre. In addition, it reduces the amount of plastic flower pots being made.

You will find that it is very satisfying to watch a plant develop that you have grown from a cutting, and taking cuttings is a great deal of fun!

Instructions

1. Buy a pelargonium and wait for it to grow full size.

2. When it has grown you can start to look for the cuttings.

3. Do not take cuttings from a stem with a flower. If you look carefully you will see a ridge on the stem where a new leaf grows.

4. Nip off your cutting immediately below one of these ridges. Your cutting should be around 4 to 5cm long.

5. You might be lucky and have five cuttings from one plant.

6. Use a lollipop stick or similar tool to make holes around the edge of a flowerpot of damp compost.

7. Put each cutting into a separate hole.

8. Place the pot on a warm windowsill.

9. Keep the compost moist.

10.In a few weeks, your cutting should have formed into a new plant. Test by pulling gently to see if the plant has rooted.

11.As soon as the new plant is big enough, you can replant it into its own pot, or even outside in the garden in the summer.

12.When it is fully grown, you can start all over again!

We have had help from many organisations in planning our work. The school would like to thank the Forestry Commission, especially Mr. John Williams, Brecknock Wildlife Trust, Brecon Beacons National Park Education Officer, Miss Eleri Jones, the British Ecological Society and the Acorn Project for all their help.

We have improved the access to the site, repaired the boardwalk and started to extend the viewing area around the pond. We have purchased tables and chairs which will be accessible to wheelchair users. When we have raised more money, we will extend the boardwalk through the woodlands and erect a bird hide. We might even have a nest cam! Our grant paid for 3 laptops to use on the environment site, as we plan to produce our own identification software and to use ICT to record and handle data about the environment area.

When we have finished preparing the site, we will be able to invite other schools and community groups to visit us. We hope to be a venue for talks about ecology.

We are all very excited about the project. The children in Class 2 are making a video of all the work. Watch this space for further developments!