Top Tips for Pruning Rosemary Bushes
Creating a beautiful shape is only one reason why every gardener should know these pruning rosemary tips. To maintain the health of this dependable and aromatic bush, you’ll have to prune properly and at the right time.
Find Rosemary All Over Your Home
Rosemary bushes are popular as indoor and outdoor plants. Cut sprigs can be added into soups, stews and many other recipes and the sweet, fresh taste of the herb is desired in many cuisines. Keep a rosemary bush near your kitchen for easy and quick access.
Gardeners love rosemary in the yard as well. It can be shaped into a pleasing, obedient cone and serve as an artistic statement of topiary. The scent is just as wonderful outside as in your cooking and the flowers are a welcome sight. Many gardeners warn that pruning rosemary before it has bloomed isn’t a good idea. Because the buds are set shortly after the blooms die off, to prune them beforehand is destroying any chance of blooming and re-blooming.
Rosemary can also be trained as a hedge and that requires disciplined pruning and strategic planting. Make sure to prune out the bottom of the rosemary constantly, keeping it just off of the ground and forcing the plant up and out to obtain sun for photosynthesis.
Pruning Basics
Always use clean and sharp scissors when pruning rosemary or any other plant.
Start with the branches that are obviously out of the desired shape. If you find branches are straggling, give them a snip and eliminate them from the site. Also, you can clip the new growth for the freshest and sweetest of cooking herbs.
If you are shaping the rosemary, always start from the bottom of the plant. Do not trim any more than 4 to 5 inches from the tip of the stem, as you don’t want to harm the thick wood of the bush. If your bush is younger, stick with keeping your cuts under 3 inches from the branch tip.
Prune so that the bottom quarter of the bush is the same thickness all around. From there you can shorten your pruning and clip a little more to present a cone shape, always making sure you’re not damaging the bush.
As a general rule of topiary, there should be no more than 3 inches of difference between the bottom and the top diameter of your bush.
Step back and observe your pruning at a distance. Clip away any spots you may have missed.
When to Prune
Consider when you will need swags of the plant for your cooking. You generally should not clip the herb for two weeks after a heavy prune, but allow the fresh growth to expand. So if you have need of your rosemary, don’t plan on pruning for a little while.
Pruning should be done just after the flower has faded. Make sure that there is plenty of time before the next frost comes, as you need those buds established before then.
Some gardeners recommend giving your rosemary a heavy pruning about 1 ½ months before the frost settles in for the winter.
How Much to Prune
It may be a good idea to bite off more than you can chew. Pruning rosemary can result in a bountiful harvest of herbs from cooking and even potpourri. Dry or freeze any excess that you’ve trimmed for use during the cold months.
It’s also recommended that you root a few strong swags while you prune, that way you’ll have back up in case you cause irreparable damage to the bush.
Don’t prune rosemary too hard as that will leave the plant damaged and vulnerable. Keep in mind that you don’t want to be cutting any wood, just green, fresh growth.
Pruning rosemary is not difficult and is almost as easy as caring for the tree. Your bush will add ingredients, aroma and beauty to any garden space.