Rosemary is an aromatic plant used in cooking to add flavor to dishes such as grilled meats, sauces, and vegetables. It is also used in bouquets garnis. Rosemary produces pretty pink, white, or blue flowers, ideal for decorating patios, gardens, or balconies. To maintain tall, bushy rosemary plants, it’s important to prune them regularly. Find out when and how to do it.
Rosemary is a perennial aromatic and medicinal plant with evergreen foliage. In addition to flavoring dishes, this herb has digestive, diuretic, antiseptic, and antirheumatic properties. It is also used to stop hair loss and promote hair regrowth. To maintain healthy, vigorous plants and benefit from the virtues of rosemary year-round, it is important to prune it regularly.
Rosemary
When can you prune rosemary?
Rosemary is best pruned in spring or early summer, between March and June. During this time, the sun and climate stimulate the formation of healthy new foliage, resulting in large, bushy plants. Make sure your last rosemary pruning occurs 4 to 6 weeks after the first frost. This will give the new growth enough time to harden off and become strong before the temperature drops. Rosemary also needs regular pruning to thrive, so make sure you prune it at the same time every year.
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How to prune rosemary?
prune the rosemary
First, use a pair of sharp pruning shears to ensure a clean cut that allows for stronger regrowth. Using this tool, start by removing all faded or dead flowers. To identify them, simply identify the flowers that appear damaged or those that have lost their color. Keep only healthy flowers. Then move on to shoots that appear diseased or damaged. To do this, remove stems damaged by cold and lower branches infected by fungus. You will recognize a fungal infection by the foliage turning yellow or falling off. Do not hesitate to remove the entire infected branch or stem so as not to contaminate the rest of the plant. However, it is not recommended to prune below the leaves located in the lower part of the plant. This could damage the foliage. In addition, you can cut the outer stems at an angle, but be careful when pruning to give your rosemary the desired shape, avoiding a uniform appearance, as rosemary is naturally thicker and bushier in places.
cut the potted rosemary
How to care for rosemary?
Rosemary is a Mediterranean aromatic plant that thrives in the sun and is sensitive to frost and excess moisture. That said, when growing in pots, choose a container with drainage holes and a well-drained potting mix suitable for aromatic or vegetable plants. Furthermore, you should only water your plant when the soil is dry. Standing water can be fatal for rosemary. Note that rosemary must be watered regularly, especially during the first year after planting. Once rosemary becomes a shrub, it is very drought-resistant. Rosemary is easy to care for. In addition to pruning, you simply need to regularly clean the base of the plant to prevent weeds. If you live in cold regions, consider covering the base of the rosemary with a layer of dry leaves to protect it from the cold. If you want to propagate your plant, opt for cuttings or layering, as planting generally takes a long time. Rosemary usually reproduces in spring.
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Thus, regularly pruning rosemary plants allows you to obtain healthy and vigorous heads, to benefit from the medicinal, culinary and cosmetic virtues of this aromatic herb, all year round.