Lavender is in flower, soon be time to prune it. I used to get plenty of cuttings when I did that. I once under-planted three large rose beds with them. Strangely the owners would always tell me "It's a Hidcote you know, cost me a lot." despite the fact that they came in all sizes and manners of growth and every shade of blue
A popular plant, used medicinally, but you need to be careful.
I also used to take cuttings of a variegated box I had, I found that they could take up to eighteen months to start striking roots, meanwhile so long as the bottom of the container stayed moist they would just sit there without dying back. I used to check a box full of cuttings for those with roots every six months or so and put the rest back in. There are a number of variegated box hedges round South London if the moth didn't get them.
I once bought some Hydro Coco natural rooting powder in error thinking it was hormone powder. It is seaweed based and it did seem to help rooting, I found it in pound shop, and used to sprinkle a bit in when making up my compost mix.
Sharp sand is always recommended to help rooting. Builder's sharp sand is a fraction of the price of the horticultural, but can be dredged places where there is a lot of salt water. I used to buy a bag and cut the top off, when it filled with rain I would make holes in the bottom to drain it, then leave it for further rain to wash it through, I would have a couple standing and one in use.
Grafting has changed since I was young, I can remember grafting apple trees on my uncle's farm by binding the bud in with twine and then applying sealing wax, I saw my cousin doing it recently with something that looked like heavy duty cling film, quick and easy by comparison, but another bit of plastic.
