What to do with my rosemary bush?

[Anonymous]

I need advice n pruning rosemary. A few years ago I stuck my rosemary plant in the ground at the side of my house, facing south, and it not just survived, it thrived. I now have a huge rosemary bush that has grown into the path. The base — every branch for about the first 4 inches— is bare wood, and then the rosemary starts. If I cut it back I will be cutting all the green parts off. Is that OK? If not, how can I prune it to reduce its size? Thanks.

[Anonymous]

Honestly just pull it and plant a new one. Look for one labeled “Arp,” it’s hardy here. It’s a little late to be doing hard pruning. But you could try, and then if it doesn’t work you’ll still have time to plant a new one before it gets really really hot.

[Anonymous]

The good thing about pruning rosemary is that you can use the leaves to make 1-2 L of tea and use it as a hair rinse.

[Anonymous]

Unfortunately, Rosemary does not grow back from old wood. You can trim the green stuff to tidy it up, but you’ll kill it if you cut back as far as you need to. So options are to leave it alone and give it just a haircut, or replace it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Honestly just pull it and plant a new one. Look for one labeled “Arp,” it’s hardy here. It’s a little late to be doing hard pruning. But you could try, and then if it doesn’t work you’ll still have time to plant a new one before it gets really really hot.

How about not honestly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I need advice n pruning rosemary. A few years ago I stuck my rosemary plant in the ground at the side of my house, facing south, and it not just survived, it thrived. I now have a huge rosemary bush that has grown into the path. The base — every branch for about the first 4 inches— is bare wood, and then the rosemary starts. If I cut it back I will be cutting all the green parts off. Is that OK? If not, how can I prune it to reduce its size? Thanks.

The specific branches you cut back to bare wood will not grow again, but new branches will grow. You can cut it back by 1/3 without killing the plant. If the concern is that it's intruding into the path, cut all of the branches that stick into the path and leave the rest - you'll still have a rosemary plant that is pruned to fit the space.

[Anonymous]

Rosemary will grow off cuttings without any rooting serum. Cut what you want, stick the bare end in the ground, keep it wet and voila, new bush.