Rosemary Pruning

[andrewo]

I've always had a problem with this herb. It always seems to become leggy and then die. I had a lovely old one that just gave up on me. At a local farmer's market, the herb person said that rosemary doesn't last long in our environment and that you need to replant every five years with new specimens. I keep mine in a pot now, plenty of grit but I want to know if anyone knows anything about pruning them to encourage new growth and whether like lavender you can only prune the new growth? Or even if you can cut the leggy wood to encourage new shoots?

[Nicos]

Not much help with pruning, but we keep our shrubs cut back throughout the year as we use it a lot in cooking. Misshapen bits get put into the BBQ as it gives off a lovely scent. I suppose we are little and often pruners so to speak

[diane.c]

yes you can only prune soft growth it doesnt like like it when you cut old wood. I killed one that way.If you like the strong aroma it makes a great rinse to make hair shiny, just steep cuttings in hot water.

[madderbat]

My MIL takes cuttings each year from the new growth that she prunes, after using what she needs for cooking/shampoo etc.
She always has some in pots, so maybe that's the way to keep it. I only got a cutting this year from her, as I haven't used it much before now.

[la cebolla grande]

I'm going to throw confusion in here. I've had my Rosemary for YEARS (about 20 or more). It is enormous and bountiful BUT it is kept in a very hot, sandy sheltered south facing garden. They HATE the cold/damp and will often rot in cold winters - they are then unable to cope with pruning. They really need lots of heat, and very good drainage.

You say it gets leggy - there are 2 types you can buy, the prostrate (var. prostrata) version, which will spread and wander everywhere - looks excellent draped off the top of a hot wall, but not so good in a bed!, or you can get a more bushy variety too, which would be better.

We take huge great chucks off ours - big old branches sometimes get clobbered by a passing hose, they are quite brittle. Doesn't seem to mind at all. I guess they just need to like where they are, otherwise they won't be hugely robust.

[Birdie Wife]

I'm going to be contrary, la cebolla grande! I keep rosemary very well up here, it's in a fairly well drained spot but we do get very cold and wet winters and often the soil is waterlogged. Admittedly I don't think it will grow into the monster you've got, but it's a lovely healthy green colour!

[JennieAtkinson]

Mine grows ok up here in the polytunnel, but I've never had any luck with rosemary outside. Far too cold and wet I think.

[Alice]

I've always found rosemary quite fikey. Had a few that died after a short time - but maybe I planted them in ridiculous places. Now I have one in a pot, up against a south facing wall - and it just loves it.

[Birdie Wife]

In my previous house we had rosemary growing in a bed by the front door where the drain pipe emptied out and it was one of the things in the garden that did really well! That's what I call tolerant! And then when we moved house, the rosemary came with us and was transplanted into it's current location. It started to die, but I dug it up, chucked a load of perlite in the hole and mixed it up, picked all the leather jackets off its roots and never looked back since. It's an old faithful, love it to bits.

[Snadger]

I have a Rosemary which is in a cold wet West border which gets no daylight until 2.00pm and it is about 5'0" high and healthy! I know it is a Mediteranian plant but it seems to survive very well. The only pruning it gets is when I snaffle a bit for the Sunday dinner or as has already been mentioned, to liven up the BBQ!

[Alice]

Aren't plants strange - bit like people I suppose. Some of them will only do well if they decide to do well , and fail if they don't and for no reason you can see. I think rosemary is like that.

[rustylady]

Rosemary hates sitting in wet soil or compost - doesn't seem to matter if it gets a lot of water, as long as it drains away quickly. Apart from that it is very tolerant. If it decides it likes you it will live forever, sometimes outgrowing its allotted space. They do say (the "old boys") that Rosemary grows best where a woman wears the trousers, so to speak - don't know whether that has been backed up by research. As for mine, I've two plants grown from cuttings, both doing well but planted on light, free-draining soil, one in sun and one in shade. "They" also say that the best pruners are flower arrangers and cooks, cutting little and often. Having said that I've managed to renovate quite a few old shrubs in my garden by really hard cutting back. Mind you, it always pays to take a few cuttings before resorting to such drastic action.

[yoanbob]

i'm with rust lady, free drainage is the key, could never get mine to survive a winter till i asked my old hippy vegan gardening friend she said drainage and i've never looked back.

[la cebolla grande]

They do say (the "old boys") that Rosemary grows best where a woman wears the trousers, so to speak - don't know whether that has been backed up by research.

Need I say anymore??!!

Our enormous old Rosemary moved with us from my old house. I planted it on top of a pile of gravel left by the previous occupants, and filled in the gaps with compost. It struggled for a few months, but then roared away again.

LCG

[mrskp]

my rosemary bush which has followed me on my various moves for 3 years now, has been stuck outside in a pot all winter and is just starting to produce some tiny flowers. I don't use it anywhere near enough. I should start !