Growing Rosemary: Set It and Almost Forget It

I love growing Rosemary! The narrow leaves that actually look like needles have a spicy, resinous fragrance. They are hardy, forgiving, and do not require a lot of attention. This plant is close to ‘Set it and forget it’ in the amount of attention it needs.

Contrary to popular belief, for the most part, rosemary can be grown outdoors year-round. This is a hardy evergreen evergreen and can withstand winter temperatures above 5°F or -15°C. In the Northeastern and Northern Plains states it may need to be brought indoors for the winter or given shelter .

My rosemary plants are outdoor plants. Occasionally they freeze a bit on the tips when the temperature drops below 20°F. When this happens, I wait until after the last hard frost of spring and then prune off the dead ends. This also stimulates new growth. This is also the time when I will give it some fertilizer.

You can cut the plant back each spring, and new growth will come up from below. Some gardeners like to do this to keep their rosemary looking good. I only cut the damaged branches.

I have several of these aromatic plants of different varieties, since they are used for culinary, medicinal, ornamental and aromatic purposes. They can be moved, dug up and transplanted to a new area and will do well if done with a little care.

I have a Rosemary Officinalis bush that is 3′ tall and 12 years old and is surrounded by strawberry plants. They were planted at the same time and are companion plants. No, I don’t dig it up every fall and put it in the greenhouse. It stays in the garden all year and does quite well. The temperature drops to freezing occasionally, but it only lasts a few days and we have intermittent snow all winter long.

Two years ago, the Romero plant was dug up and transplanted. The key is to dig deep and get as much of the root ball as possible without disturbing it. The herb garden he found himself in would soon become the foundation of a house, so it had to be moved along with the strawberries growing at its base.

I have a backhoe, so it was easy to dig up the plant and move it. Unfortunately I didn’t have time to plant it for a few days. I had put a damp jute sack (burlap-like material) around its base and root ball. To be honest, I was so involved in learning how to dig a bed with the tractor that I completely forgot about my Rosemary plant for 3 days.

When I was ready to plant it, I used my little Mantis cultivator to dig and prepare the hole. Why the tiller instead of the backhoe? Because he wanted to till, pulverize, and sift the soil while he was digging the hole. Small cultivators like the Mantis cultivator are great for this type of work.

I live in the Pacific Northwest and the ground is rocky and turns to clay after digging down a good 18 inches. The little cultivator does a great job of digging the hole and tilling the soil at the same time. The hole was dug twice as wide and deep as the Rosemary root ball. Next, a layer of my potting medium was placed in the hole and watered. After the water was absorbed, the rosemary plant with its companion strawberry plants was placed in the hole and positioned to look its best for its placement in the garden. A little more water was added and when absorbed my potting medium was placed in and around the root ball, tamped down and watered again.

You may think that I watered the plant too much, no. The root ball of the plant was quite dry and needed the water that was put in the hole; this was not overwatering. If the root ball had held a good amount of moisture, you wouldn’t have used as much water in the hole.

Rosemary prefers light, sandy, well-drained soil and full sun. Full sun I have; light sandy soil, I have to do. This can be accomplished by mixing sand and compost into your soil and mixing them into a fine granular or pulverized medium.

You can do this with:

• Buy such a growing medium
• Mix the sand, compost and soil together

I like to put the soil along with the sand and compost in my tractor’s front loader or large wheelbarrow and then use the small tiller to mix it into a good granular potting medium. This was used to plant the rosemary.

I also trimmed it a bit to give it shape. The rosemary plant never suffered any transplant shock due to having its entire root ball dug up and protected until I had a chance to plant it. I should also point out here that this was done in November, which is the perfect time to move the plants as it is less traumatic for them. Autumn is the time to move them; however, cuts and layers can be done in the spring or fall.

My plant is driving and it likes its new home.

Rosemary also likes a PH around 5.0. I place a ring of coffee grounds about 5 inches from the main stem of the plant. This keeps the PH right and also works as a slow release fertilizer and keeps slugs off my plants.

Don’t be afraid to move your Rosemary around. Keep it pruned and it will produce new growth. Depending on where you live, give it extra protection in the winter. You can also grow Rosemary in a pot planted in the ground and in the fall dig up the pot and move it to a sheltered area. You can also plant climbing rosemary in a hanging basket and move it to a sheltered area as needed.

I have a friend in Montana who covers her 5 foot tall plant with burlap and places several flakes of straw around the base of her plant before the first snow. She covers him with a blanket when the temperature and wind chill are extreme. She says that this works and that she hasn’t had a problem in 5 years.

The main problem with growing Rosemary is over-watering. Be careful with water unless you live in the south or have a severe drought. This is one of the herbs that does not seem to be affected by pests or diseases.

If you have not tried growing Rosemary give it a try, you will be amazed at how easy it is to grow and what a wonderful addition it makes to your landscape and garden. This is as easy as it gets.

Visit Growing Rosemary for an in-depth look at this wonderful herb. Happy gardening!