Rosemary is a rampant grower, and it will need trimming so it doesn’t take over the garden. Feel free to do it now in Thanksgiving week. This way you will have plenty of rosemary for cooking and decorating with!

Divide in Fall

Fall is time to tidy up and divide or prune many of your garden plants – and rosemary is one. There are a number of plants that need to be left alone right now as winter approaches, but rosemary is not one of them. A few years ago I wrote an extensive list of plants to prune or divide in Autumn. If it’s not on that list – ask me in the comments at the bottom and I’ll let you know.

 

Why Divide?

Just like you separate quarreling sibling humans, you need to separate a clump of sibling perennial plants that are growing too close together.    They may look friendly above ground -    but down in the soil the roots are fighting for space, and nutrients, and even water. This means they will be less healthy overall, more likely to die from insect attack, and certainly will produce fewer flowers.

Yes, crowding reduces flowering (“Fighting for nutrients” – remember?    Less nutrients to go around means less nutrients to flower with).    Also, with many plants, crowding and lack of division means that after a time, the center of the clump may die.

Rosemary produces flowers on new growth. They should start blooming in January and into March, providing wonderful nectar for bees, so pruning or dividing can help the plant make more flowers come spring weather.

Word Nerd: “Perennial”

The term “perennial” is used for plants that live for many years and are mostly non-woody.    Basically, they are plants that live all year and are not shrubs, trees, or succulents.    Annuals live for a year or less, like the spring wildflowers discussed – here.

Prune or Divide the Rosemary?

Rosemary has been bred by plant breeders for centuries to form either a clumpy, bushy form, or to spread out and trail along the ground. How you will need to treat your rosemary depends on which form you have. I have both, so I have my work cut out for me.

Just don’t so much pruning or dividing so that you stress and kill the mother plant. The rule of thumb is to never take more than one third of the total body mass at one time.

Bush rosemary plants can be snipped back and used for Thanksgiving cooking and more. Over on Savor the Southwest we have 13 Ways to Use Rosemary.

Spreading or trailing rosemary is also snipped back – but can potentially be planted elsewhere in the yard, like to help stabilize some steep banks. The javelina and rabbits don’t bother it a bit!  Another wildlife resistant plant!

How to Divide Spreading Rosemary

This one spreads out across the ground and often roots where the branches touch the soil. Yipee! Free plants!

Step 1.

Decide where you will plant all of these rooted cuttings. Get the hole(s) dug and the soil ready. It will help avoid root stress if you lightly dampen the soil where you will be planting.

Step 2.

With you pruning shears at hand, carefully dig up some of these rooted branches, Try to leave a clump of soil around the roots. When ready, cut them off the parent plant. If you have some, seal the cut with parafin plant tape immediately to reduce water loss.

Step 3.

Carefully lift the rooted and now cut stem along with a ball of soil from it’s old home and carry it to the planting area. Plant, and tamp the soil down. Water it in within 5 minutes or so – to drive out any air pockets.

Step 4.

Watch you little rootlings in the coming weeks. Water if it looks like it is drying out. It has been cut off from the well established and nurturing roots of mama plant. It’s okay to pamper little plants.

I would estimate that I have a 75 percent success rate with these pre-rooted rosemary. At least a quarter of them fail, and I’m not sure why. I’m not proud of plants dying on my watch – but I share this information with you so you know that it may happen to you.

Next Year

Next year you should really prune and divide sooner in autumn, like the first week of November. You can save the rosemary next year for Thanksgiving cooking by infusing, or making and freezing herb butter. Those recipes will be over on Savor the Southwest.

More on What to do Each Month:

One reviewer said:

“A great reference book is key to successful gardening in the region where you live. Arizona, Nevada & New Mexico Month-by-Month Gardening takes the guesswork out of gardening for anyone residing in the Southwest. With this book, you’ll know what to do each month to enjoy a thriving garden all year, from January to December. Chronologically organized, this guide is full of critical gardening when-to and how-to advice, along with illustrated step-by-step instructions.

The book’s author is Jacqueline Soule, a Tucson-based gardening expert. She knows this arid region inside and out, and she’s written several articles and books packed with her gardening advice. Arizona, Nevada & New Mexico Month-by-Month Gardening showcases Soule’s expertise in one easy-to-read guide.”

Available on my book selling site – and if you buy the book there the Horticulture Therapy non-profit Tierra del Sol Institute will get a few pennies – at no extra cost to you.

Legal

© Article copyright Jacqueline A. Soule. All rights reserved. You must ask permission to republish an entire blog post or article. Okay to use a short excerpt but you must give proper credit. You must include a link to the original post on our site. No stealing photos.