rosemary

[maryrose]

i have a large rosemary bush over 4ft high 4ft wide any tips on pruning?

[lannerman]

Hi maryrose, You dont say where you are ?? but as a general rule they are best pruned immedeately after flowering and here in Cornwall UK, they are in flower now ! Depending on how small you want to keep it, I'd prune it all over by about 1/3rd, that will encourage growth from lower down. If you want to keep it really bushy and need lots of new fresh growth (ie. for cullinary purposes) as soon as the currents seasons new growth is about 6" long, pinch these shoots out again.

I would also suggest that now would be a good time to feed and that will help with the production of new shoots.

regards, Lannerman.

[mike696]

Thanks a lot for the response. I'm based in Leicestershire - do you think this would make much of a difference? Could very cold temperatures (-15+) kill the shrub entirely - or would it be more likely to just kill the leaf foliage back?

[David E. Ross]

Rosemary and its relatives such as lavender and sage need to be pruned carefully.

If you live in a climate where frosts occur regularly in the winter, do not prune after mid-October (northern hemisphere); wait until spring when no more frosts are expected. Pruning promotes new growth, which is especially tender and would be damaged by frosts. While I do get some frost in the winter, it is only occasional and not severe. Thus, I can prune my rosemary at any time of the year.

When you make a cut, you must either remove the entire branch or else leave some live foliage below the cut. "Live foliage" includes foliage on side branches below the cut. If you cut into bare wood with no live foliage remaining, the branch will die back to its base. All this requires hand shears, lopping shears, and a small pruning saw so that you can select each branch and make individual cuts. Do not use hedge shears, which cut many branches at once. Too often, hedge shears will leave several branches that have no live foliage; you would then see significant die-back.

I prune my rosemary to clean out lower growth and expose the branches, which can be quite picturesque. The plant is about 30 years old. Its branches are twisted and gnarled. At the base, it is about 6 inches in diameter.

If you really want to reduce the size of the plant, however, I suggest that you do it gradually. After you lightly trim, wait. The plant should get new shoots lower down. Then you can trim above those new shoots.

[Billy]

Don't you cook?