A lot of resources say to place hardwood cuttings in a hole until spring. I've tried this approach a few times and I always end up with dead buds in the spring and black spots where the cuts were made. Today, I was reading that I could stick the dormant cuttings in the ground with an inch or two poking up instead. My question is when do I make the cuttings and stick them in ground? Fall? Early Spring? Dead of winter?