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How to Grow Rosemary: Planting, Pruning, and Harvesting This Hardy Herb

green rosemary bush, many branches are randomly arranged. fresh seasoning
Image Credit:
Andrei Metelev
Botanical Name
Salvia rosmarinus (aka Rosmarinus officinalis)
Grown as
Tender Perennial
USDA Zones
7a
7b
8a
8b
9a
9b
10a
10b
11a
11b
Toxicity
Non-toxic
Sun Exposure
Full Sun
Water Needs
Low
Height
1–3 feet
Spread
1–3 feet
Soil pH
Neutral
Alkaline
Bloom Time
Summer
Flower Color
Blue
Purple
Special Features
Container-Friendly
Cut Flower
Disease-Resistant
Erosion Control
Evergreen
Fragrant
Low Maintenance
Winter Interest
Attracts Butterflies
Attracts Hummingbirds
Attracts Pollinators
Deer-resistant
Rabbit-resistant
Resilience
Drought-Tolerant
Heat-Tolerant
Salt Tolerant
Plant Type
Herbs
Written By: Catherine Boeckmann Executive Digital Editor and Master Gardener

Looking to add some flavor to your garden and your dinner? Rosemary’s got you covered. This hardy herb is an overachiever of the plant world—aromatic, drought-tolerant, bee-friendly, and stylish enough to double as landscaping. 

Whether you’re planting it in pots or the ground, we’ll show you how to grow, prune, and harvest rosemary like a seasoned pro!

Rosemary (Salvia rosmarinus) is a compact, small to medium-sized woody shrub; there’s also a trailing variety. This shrubby herb is a type of sage and grows well with other Mediterranean herbs, such as lavender and thyme. It has lovely blue flowers as well, attracting pollinators!

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Drought-tolerant, rosemary grows best in warm areas, similar to its native shores of the Mediterranean Sea. In these conditions, rosemary can grow into a shrub 5 to 10 feet in height. Rosemary grows so vigorously in ideal conditions that it needs yearly pruning to keep it bushy.

This herb can be grown in the ground or in a pot. If you live in Zones 7 and warmer, it grows easily as a perennial evergreen shrub that lives for many years. Rosemary is hardy down to 15° to 23°F (-10° to -5°C), so it may need winter protection. In colder areas, rosemary should be grown in a pot and brought indoors for the winter.

When growing rosemary as a culinary herb, it’s best to harvest it in the spring and summer when it’s actively putting on new growth. Rosemary is a compact woody shrub. While all the leaves are technically edible, we usually only eat the tender leaves that form at the tips of new branches.

Planting

Plant in full sun in fast-draining soil; rosemary won’t tolerate being constantly wet. Ideally, the soil should be relatively fertile (mix in compost prior to planting to increase nutrient levels).

When to Plant Rosemary

  • Plant rosemary in spring well after the frosts have passed, once the soil is starting to warm up (around 70ºF or 21°C). In warmer climates, plant in spring or fall.
  • Most gardeners start rosemary from young plants bought at a nursery. This plant does not germinate easily from seed and seedlings are slow to grow.
  • However, if you have access to an established rosemary plant, rosemary is very easily started from cuttings.
  • If you wish to grow from seed indoors, just be aware it will take several years to grow the plant large enough to start harvesting.
  • Start seeds or cuttings indoors 8 to 10 weeks before the last spring frost. (See your local frost dates.) 

How to Plant Rosemary

  • Rosemary grows well in the ground or in containers. However, it does not like wet roots, so if your soil is heavy or wet, plant it in a pot or a raised bed. Also, rosemary does not transplant well from ground to container, so start in a pot if you plan to bring it inside (especially in colder climates).
  • Before planting in the ground, mix in several inches of organic matter, such as compost, to create nutritious, fertile soil.
  • In a pot, use a container mix, as rosemary needs a lighter-weight soil mix.
  • Space starter plants 2 to 3 feet apart; rosemary does not like being crowded.
  • If starting seeds or cuttings indoors, keep the soil moist while seeds germinate and roots develop. Seeds can take a long time to germinate (2 to 3 weeks), so don’t give up right away! Plant outside once the plant is 4 inches tall.

Rosemary plant with purple flowers

Growing

  • Keep the soil uniformly moist, allowing it to dry out between waterings. Be consistent; be careful not to overwater.
  • Rosemary shrubs growing in the ground do not need fertilizer, but a potted plant will run out of nutrition more quickly, so feed with an all-purpose balanced fertilizer after flowering.
  • Mulch the shrubs to keep plants insulated in winter, but keep mulch away from the crown of the plant to avoid rotting.
  • Prune annually before new growth begins in the spring, and prune out dead wood. Don’t prune the rosemary too heavily.
  • If you leave rosemary unpruned, it can get very woody, leggy, and straggly. After about 5 years, it’s best to replace it.
  • Be sure to get cuttings or divide the plant for next season if it won’t survive winter in your area.
  • During the winter, bring potted rosemary plants inside. Learn how to overwinter rosemary indoors.

Rosemary plants

Harvesting

  • While rosemary is an evergreen that can be harvested at any time, it’s best to harvest young stems and leaves for the freshest taste. The plant puts on soft new tips in the spring and summer.
  • The leaves and stems get tougher and more woody as they age. The older tips are best for infusing things with flavor or scent, rather than eating. Try making rosemary vinegar!
  • Even the flowers are edible, with a slightly sweeter flavor. Add to salads or dishes as a garnish.
  • Snip off stems, while keeping an eye on maintaining an attractive shape to the plant. Don’t harvest more than a third of the rosemary at any one time.
  • To dry rosemary, hang it upside down in bunches in a dark, warm place. Once stems are dry, strip the leaves from them and store in a sealed jar.

Pests and Problems

  • Aerial blight
  • Bacterial leaf spots
  • Several types of root rot

Wit and Wisdom

  • In the garden, plant rosemary near beans, cabbage, carrots, and sage. Learn more about companion planting with herbs.
  • Rosemary tea is said to enhance one’s memory. Wear a sprig of rosemary in your hair to improve your memory.
  • In the language of flowers, rosemary symbolizes remembrance.
  • A sprig of lavender or rosemary under your ironing board cover will release its fragrance with the heat.

The Many Uses of Rosemary

Enjoy this video showing the rosemary plant—and its many uses as a helper in the garden, kitchen, and healing home!

Herbs

About The Author

Catherine Boeckmann

Catherine Boeckmann

Executive Digital Editor and Master Gardener

Catherine Boeckmann loves nature, stargazing, and gardening, so it’s not surprising that she and The Old Farmer’s Almanac found each other. She leads digital content for the Almanac website and is also a certified master gardener in the state of Indiana.

Read more from Catherine Boeckmann

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Comments

<span>Donna</span> Mon, 05/01/2017 - 10:13
I purchased one in February. We planted it in a pot, a mix of soil, compost, sand and a little pea gravel for drainage. It's still living but has not grown at all. What did we do wrong? I have tried in past years to grow but they have always died when we plant in the ground.
<a title="View user profile." href="/author/editors">The Editors</a> Mon, 05/01/2017 - 12:46

You probably did everything right! Rosemary is slow-growing, especially for the first 2 or 3 years. It likes good drainage, which it sounds like your plant has. It also likes warmth--it may wake up a bit when temperatures warm this spring. Be sure that your plant gets 6 to 8 hours of full sun each day. Hope this helps!

 <span>Vik</span> Sun, 04/30/2017 - 05:30
4 years ago we moved into our house that has lots of Rosemary both in front and back yards. This winter parts of section started to turn brown and slowly more turned brown.i tried to trim some brown parts away but did nothing in winter. Now I have an entire section brown tree in between other rosemary - total length is 25 ft of which middle section is dried or brown. We were told by a gardner that it's dead and the entire section must be take off - can u please advise ? I don't want to remove if I can save the other sections. Should I remove all the dead parts only ? Please advise. Live in Los Angeles. Wondering all the extra rains caused the problem. We have browning I.of a section in my backyard rosemary in other smaller part now. Please advise.
<span>Joanna Decker</span> Tue, 04/18/2017 - 19:24
So. We planted 4 rosemary plants in our front flower bed. The two on the right got big and beautiful, but the two on the left turned mostly brown. I told my neighbor it was fine that they would bounce back, but he hated the brown leaves so he bought 2 new plants. They looked great for about 2 weeks, but now they are brown. Almost completely brown. They receive the exact same treatment as the other two plants. I'm confused. What could be the issue here.
<a title="View user profile." href="/author/editors">The Editors</a> Thu, 04/20/2017 - 12:48

Are the four plants in your flower bed all in a row? Or are the two (and two replacements) that didn't do well in a separate section of the bed? They are all the same variety of rosemary? Some possibilities might include--health of the individual plants before they were planted in the ground. If the ones that did not do well were stressed in some way before they were planted, then they would have less of a chance of establishing. However, it might be that something in those spots that is affecting those 2 plants--check the soil for pests (are there any pests nibbling at the roots of those two, such as if there is an insect nest there?), check the light and moisture. In those spots, are the plants getting less or more light or water than the healthy plants? Is there an animal that is bothering the plants in that spot? Any sign of digging? If there is a disease in the soil, then it would likely first affect the two plants planted in the same spot, but may spread to the others if they are nearby. Hope this helps!

 <span>Jessica</span> Fri, 01/27/2017 - 16:34
I am over wintering my rosemary plant from my garden. I have it in a larger pit, make sure it's in the sunniest window I have. But I notices that the new growth, it's almost doubled in size since I brought it in in November, and the new growth is curling. Like christmas ribbons. I want to put this back iy garden for the spring but worried we won't make it. Any advice.
<a title="View user profile." href="/author/editors">The Editors</a> Wed, 02/01/2017 - 15:02

Jessica, are you watering it regularly? Water it completely, soaking the root ball and showering the leaves, then let the water run off (the container should have holes in the bottom).  Give it partial shade; the sunniest window could be too much, and mist it occasionally (say, once per week). Repeat the soak when the leaves start to wilt again. Rosemary is a Mediterranean plant that likes a cool, wet climate in winter.

 <span>Lo</span> Sat, 01/14/2017 - 23:48
I trim the rosemary and planted rosemary in 3 pot. I live in Malaysia, a good hot& sun country. Rosemary is alive and not died. Possible to add some attachment here to show my plant in pot. However, the plant looks like healthy but slow growing.. Can someone teach me more technique about rosemary grow?
<span>Ann</span> Wed, 12/28/2016 - 10:28
I grew a rosemary plant this summer in my backyard, it was spectacular. During this month of winter the plant has not died!! ( I live in Ontario Canada). I have not clipped or try to take any leafs from it as I am amazed and scared that it will die. Is possible for a rosemary plant to be alive during the dead of winter? Currently the plant is not covered at all!
<a title="View user profile." href="/author/editors">The Editors</a> Thu, 01/05/2017 - 12:21

That is remarkable! It could be that you have one of the hardier varieties and that it is situated in a microclimate that protects it from the worst of the cold. It could still take a turn so you might want to cover it or even bring it indoors. Let us know if it survives to see spring!