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Apple tree cuttings from branches will seldom, if ever root. Apple tree species are started from seeds, and named varieties ( McIntosh or Delicious, for example ) are started on rootstocks by either budding (buds) or grafting (scions) them.
Magnolia and Forsythia cuttings can be taken at different times of the year, and if given the right environmental conditions, root readily. Both of these can be rooted from semi-ripe cuttings, softwood cuttings and greenwood cuttings. Forsythia can also be started from hardwood cuttings. Greenwood cuttings are slightly firmer and darker then softwood cuttings and are taken from the plant between late spring and early summer.
For complete information on how to take and make these cuttings, and how to root them, read the Butterfly Bush article from March 16, 2001. This is exactly the same way to propagate cuttings from Magnolia trees and Forsythia shrubs.
Forsythia can also be propagated by simple-layering in early spring or in autumn. It's very easily done. Just find a shoot or stem that bends easily (is pliable) at the edge of the shrub and bend it over so that the top 8 inches or so will lay flat on the soil. Pound a skinny stake into the soil at this spot and dig a 3 inch deep trench that slopes upwards away from the shrub. Bend the shoot over so that it lies in the trench with the top 3 or 4 inches of the tip running up along the stake. Hold the stem in the trench with a 'U' shaped piece of wire and tie the tip to the stake so it stays in an upright position. Fill the trench back in with soil and water it well. When you are done, it will look like a little 3 or 4 inch tree leaning up against a stake. Keep the soil moist and weed free all summer. The layered tip should be well rooted by the end of autumn, but don't be in a real hurry to dig it up as it takes almost a whole year for it to root well. When it is well-rooted and ready to move to its permanent location, sever or cut the stem that attaches it to the parent plant, dig it up and transplant it. Best of luck with your cuttings.
