Another dying Rosemary

[Marb67]

Why oh why do I have such bad luck with herbs, Rosemary in particular ? I look after them as advised on the label, not overwatering etc and still they just shed their leaves and die. This Sudbury Blue I purchased in Spring was lovely and bushy. I have kept it out of the cold, even bought it into the house this last few weeks and kept in a window that gets some sun and still it just gets smaller and smaller while shedding. It just seems I can't grow anything.

[ameno]

I have kept it out of the cold, even bought it into the house this last few weeks and kept in a window that gets some sun and still it just gets smaller and smaller while shedding.

I imagine that's the problem.
Rosemary don't like winter wet or excessive cold, but they are still perfectly hardy, and prefer to be cool over the winter. If you try to keep in a warm home over winter it will likely die.
Next time, just pot your rosemary into a larger pot of well-drained, gritty compost, and just leave it outside over winter. If it rains a lot where you are, try to rig up a roof of some kind, maybe, but it shouldn't need more than that.
I mean, where I am (south Somerset) you just stick rosemary in the ground and it grows just fine (even on my clay soil). It's probably a bit milder over winter than it is where you are, but it's probably also a fair bit wetter.

I also feel like trying to keep it in such a small pot may not have been a good idea. Rosemary grow to a decent size, and they like to grow, so a pot that small won't last it long. If you buy a plant in a pot that size, it probably needs repotting straight away.

[Marb67]

But I have only taken it indoors since it was shedding so it already went downhill in the cold greenhouse.

[Jungle Jane]

They need potting on from their nursery pots to have a bit more space for their roots to continue growing. I’d try cutting off the dry dead bits & potting on now as there’s still some green,hopefully it will survive & feel comfortable.

[greenishfing]

I sympathise Marb as I have killed a couple in the past, but as the owner now of a couple of massive specimens growing outdoors in heavy clay soil I agree with everyone else, plant them out with plenty of room for the roots to spread and treat 'em rough.

[Grafitti]

Mine are out at the allotment in heavy clay, no protection and they seem to be happy. I started them all from cuttings, kept them in moist compost for the first year and then into the ground, of course not all survived but probably a 60-70% rooting rate. Easy to grow a few spares to insure against any existing plants dying. I've also found that mine like to be pruned regularly like a hedge, if not they start going leggy and losing leaves except at the growing tips

[Plot70]

I am growing them as a skinny hedge where a low fence is rotting away to save the bother of replacing said fence.
The neighbours like the scent and have let it bush out.

[Marb67]

I have tried potting on in the past with the same result - dead. No space to plant them out

[Snoop Puss]

Rosemary can become a veritable bush. In the wild, it will put out huge roots in the search for water. If you keep it in a small pot, it won't be happy. If you keep it in a small pot and barely water it, it will be doubly unhappy. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, Marb. Given the conditions you have to grow in, it may be that you will just have to accept that some plants will eventually need replacing.

Rosemary won't tolerate having constantly wet roots, but they don't mind extremely wet conditions from time to time. And in my experience, they are extremely cold tolerant (surviving well into the minuses). Agree with Ameno that if you have room for a bigger pot, pot on and cover the pot in some way in the wet season so that most of the rain drains off the sides rather than into the pot. Otherwise, keep in a small pot and replace the plant when you think necessary.

[Marb67]

And yet on another thread I was told to not water Rosemary. Which is it ? Again, 2 more healthy plants bought in Waitrose and potted in good nursery grade compost. Healthy enough for a few weeks and again, brown tips on leaves (I was told due to too much water) so left pots to go dry and now yellowing of leaves with wispy, brittle pathetic shape. This photo doesn't show it bad enough as it looks with the eye. You can see the before an after when the leaves started turning brown, but still quite bushy. I give up.

[Marb67]

Why oh why oh why does this keep happening? Another healthy rosemary going scabby just as the weather turns nice. It's south facing with plenty of sun.

[Mark Rand]

Looks like it might be leaf hopper damage. If it is then spray it if you're into chemical warfare. Use yellow sticky traps close to the plant and ruffle the leaves/branches to make the leaf hoppers jump off. Prune off the damaged branches. Cook lots of lamb etc. (might as well be you eating it instead of the pests ).

[Jungle Jane]

I would find somewhere in the ground for it,front or back garden,some plants root systems are longer than the height of the plant. When it has enough depth it takes care of itself,it’s very low maintenance,mine never needs watering,the tap root is deep into the soil.

[Marb67]

Aaaaand yet another new Rosemary bought earlier this year died for absolutely no reason.

[Snoop Puss]

Marb, I think your expectations of herbs are too high. Just because you can buy small pots of perky-looking herbs in supermarkets and garden centres all year round doesn't mean that these plants don't naturally have a down season. Plus, the one above is in much too small a pot. And too wet for rosemary.

I'm not sure if you've ever tried digging up a rosemary bush in the wild. Even a modest bush will have roots going down at least 50 cm and extending outwards in a radius of 40 cm in all directions. No-one here tries doing it by hand. Where they've taken root in almond and olive groves, only a tractor will do. Small pots like those are essentially coffins for rosemary.

Try pruning it hard, potting what's left in a bigger pot, watering it once when you pot it up and then leaving it unwatered till till after flowering is finished next year. Use soil, not potting compost. I'm not guaranteeing you a result if it really is totally dead, but you don't have much to lose.

Ideally, as JJ said, you wouldn't pot it up, you'd put it in the ground and never water it ever. UK rainfall will be plenty enough.