Rosemary (Salvia rosmarinus, formerly Rosmarinus officinalis) is one of the hardest-working plants in my garden. Not only is it an attractive evergreen shrub, but it also provides a valuable harvest throughout the year for drying, crafting and use in some of our Enchanted Raven loose incense blends.
This particular rosemary plant is approximately five years old and has grown into a large, healthy shrub. However, over the last couple of years, my caring responsibilities for family understandably took priority over some areas of the garden. Whilst the rosemary continued to thrive, it hadn't received the regular pruning and shaping that helps keep it at its best.
With flowering now finished and some time finally available to devote to the garden, it was the perfect opportunity to give this rosemary the attention it deserved.
Why Prune Rosemary After Flowering?
Rosemary is a vigorous and surprisingly fast-growing shrub. Left unchecked, it can gradually become woody, leggy and sparse, with much of the fresh growth confined to the outer tips of the plant.
Regular pruning helps to:
- Encourage bushier growth
- Maintain a compact shape
- Reduce excessive woody growth
- Improve airflow through the plant
- Provide material for harvesting and propagation
The key is to prune into green, leafy growth wherever possible and avoid cutting heavily into old, bare wood.
Assessing the Plant
Before picking up the secateurs, I spent a few minutes looking over the plant and identifying areas that had become overgrown.
Several branches had grown longer than the rest of the shrub, particularly 2 large branches growing low across the soil to the front of the shrub, creating an uneven shape and increasing the amount of woody growth developing within the plant. Although still healthy, it was definitely starting to lose the tidy, compact form that regular trimming encourages.
Giving Rosemary a Much-Needed Haircut
With the pruning points identified, I began removing selected stems, cutting just above healthy green growth.
Rather than shearing the plant into a tight ball, my aim was to gradually restore a balanced shape while retaining plenty of healthy foliage, this could well take a couple of years to achieve.
As the pruning progressed, the rosemary quickly began to look tidier and more compact. Light was able to reach further into the centre of the plant and the overall structure became much more balanced.
Most importantly, the plant still retained its natural appearance while shedding a significant amount of excess growth.
Making the Most of the Harvest
One thing I dislike in the garden is waste.
The stems removed during pruning weren't destined for the compost heap. Instead, they provided a useful harvest of fresh rosemary leaves.
The leaves were stripped from the stems and then roughly chopped to increase the surface area and help speed up the drying process.
To dry the rosemary, the leaves were spread in a very thin layer across foil trays. Good airflow is essential when drying herbs, so keeping the layer thin helps moisture escape more efficiently.
This year we're also experimenting with gently warming the trays in the oven. Not hot enough to cook the rosemary, but warm enough to encourage moisture loss and hopefully reduce drying times.
It will be interesting to compare the results with our normal drying process.
Taking Semi-Ripe Rosemary Cuttings
The pruning session also provided the perfect opportunity to create new rosemary plants.
I selected ten healthy, semi-ripe cuttings from the freshly harvested stems, see below.
Step 1: Preparing the Cuttings
The lower leaves were removed from each cutting, leaving a clean section of stem that could be inserted into the compost, see below picture.
Removing the lower foliage helps prevent rot and allows the cutting to focus its energy on root production.
Step 2: Applying Rooting Hormone
The prepared stems were dipped into rooting hormone gel.
Whilst rosemary will often root without hormone treatment, using rooting gel can help improve success rates and encourage faster root development.
Step 3: Planting the Cuttings
Using a finger, I created individual planting holes in the compost before inserting each cutting, see pictures above.
This simple step helps prevent the rooting hormone from being scraped off the stem as the cutting is inserted.
Once positioned, the compost was gently firmed around each stem to ensure good contact between the stem and the growing medium.
The completed pots now contain ten semi-ripe rosemary cuttings, which will hopefully develop into strong young plants over the coming months, see picture above.
Experimenting with Larger Rosemary Cuttings
Alongside the standard cuttings, I decided to try something a little different.
Three much larger rosemary stems were selected with a longer-term goal in mind: potential bonsai projects.
The smaller side shoots were removed, and sections of bark were carefully scraped away to expose part of the cambium layer beneath.
These wounded areas were then coated in rooting hormone gel before the stems were planted into compost.
Will they root?
Only time will tell.
If successful, they could form the basis of future rosemary bonsai projects.
Gardening is often about experimentation, and sometimes the most interesting projects begin with trying something that isn't guaranteed to work.
An Unexpected Discovery
Whilst pruning the rosemary, I noticed one branch resting on the ground.
When I tried to move it, it resisted.
On closer inspection, it appears that the branch may have rooted naturally where it has been in contact with the soil.
If this proves to be the case, the plant has effectively started propagating itself through a natural process known as layering.
Rather than disturbing it, I've decided to leave it exactly where it is and allow it more time to develop its own root system.
With a bit of luck, I may be able to separate it from the parent plant later this year or perhaps next year, creating yet another rosemary plant from the same shrub.
Why I Always Propagate When I Prune
One of the biggest lessons I've learned as a gardener is that every pruning session presents an opportunity.
By taking a little extra time, today's maintenance task has potentially created:
- 10 semi-ripe rosemary cuttings
- 3 larger experimental cuttings
- 1 naturally layered plant
From a single morning's work, one rosemary shrub could eventually become fourteen separate plants.
For Enchanted Raven, rosemary is a particularly valuable herb. We use it as a purification herb and incorporate it into several of our handcrafted loose incense blends, including our Healing and Protection blends.
Being able to grow, harvest, and propagate our own rosemary helps ensure a continuing supply of healthy plants for years to come.
Final Gardening Tip
Never view pruning as simply cutting a plant back.
Pruning can improve the health and appearance of the parent plant, provide material for drying and harvesting, and create opportunities for propagation all at the same time.
With a pair of secateurs, a pot of compost and a little patience, one rosemary plant can become many.
And that makes a morning in the garden time very well spent indeed.