Summer has been flying by! (it usually does, unfortunately), and we have had an unusual amount of rain. Not good for swimming, but my garden has loved it.
Now is the time of year that some of the annuals in the garden and in pots are looking a little overgrown and leggy. It’s good to go around and prune them to keep them all in shape. One of those plants that benefit from pinching and pruning is coleus. They are so easy to snip their stems, and root in water, to create more plants! As I was snipping one of my coleus plants last year, I thought “how easy would it be to create a topiary from this one stem?” I gave it a try, and I’m loving it! I am going to show you just how easy it is to create your own!
Trim off a long stem 
remove the lower leaves
I started by taking a snip off of my coleus plant. I snipped a piece with a long stem. A shorter one would work too. I carefully removed the lower leaves, leaving just a few at the top.
After that, I just placed it in some water, and put it on the kitchen window sill! Just keep an eye on the water, and top it up when necessary.
place it in water and it will form roots 
It isn’t long before the stem has formed many roots! (this is a stem from a different coleus that I am going to train into a topiary this year)
It doesn’t take long, and you will see some roots forming! I wait until there are quite a few roots, and then plant it in some potting soil.
Now all you have to do to is to keep removing any leaves along the stem…keeping the top leaves in the shape of a topiary. As the stem gets taller, support it by tying a wooden skewer to it. That’s it!!! I have snipped off the leaves on the top of my topiary over the months, to keep it the shape I wanted as well.
I am so happy how it turned out. This year I have started another one with a different kind of coleus. It’s the plant in the terra cotta pot on the mantel. It may take a little longer to form, because it started out a little shorter.
I hope you give this a try! If you do, let me know by sending me an email, or tagging me on Instagram or Facebook! As always, thank you so much for stopping by! I appreciate each one of you! Happy gardening!
So beautiful. I noticed that one on your mantle but in the gabbing and playing with cute grandson, forgot to comment. What a gift you have. thanks for sharing. Love Mom
Thanks Mom! xoxo
That is just gorgeous! I did it with a small lavendar branch as well!
Thank you Judy! Really? I would love to try with a lavender branch!!!
Tracey
Thank you Tracey! Beautiful!
Thanks Bev! xo