I've Planted Rosemary and Have Some Questions

[OldGuy43]

OldGal and I were at Lowe's today and found two Rosemary plants (Rosmarinus officinalis) on sale for $3.25 marked down from $13.00. The little tag that comes with them gives me the following information:

Water Arid Dry
Average size 30"x30"
Spacing 24" - 48"
Growth rate Medium
Cold hardiness 0 to -10 Zone 6 (I'm in 8b)
Pruning Prune to control size
Fertilization Early spring

Planted them in the ground just shy of the top of the root ball near our raised xeriscape garden (full sun) with used potting soil, gave them about a handful of 13-13-13 fertilizer around the perimeter and didn't water since it's raining here right now and it's supposed to continue to do so for about 3 days.


My first question came about because I visited "Lowe's Plant Guide" ( http://www.lowes.com/cd_Lowes+Plant+Guide_253427968_?url=plant.aspx?code=L7037 ) and found that they list this plant as not "Water Wise". How can that be considering it's supposed to be an "Arid Dry" plant?

Next question; I learned the hard way not to over water Rosemary. My previous experience has been with those little "Christmas Tree" ones that they sell at Home Depot. I tried raising them in a large container outdoors. The first one died after a few months and the second lasted about 2 years and died last spring. Any suggestions on keeping these alive will be appreciated.

 

[Southern Gardener]

Oldguy - here is mine. I'm in the same zone as you and although my rosemary is well establishd, I don't do anything special to it - just give it some compost every spring. We had a terrible drought this summer and it did fine.

 

[wsmoak]

I'm a little further north and my rosemary came through last winter just fine. I don't do anything special to it, just snip off what I need. We also had them as landscape plants in Phoenix and they survived the summers. I wouldn't worry about it too much, they're pretty low maintenance. -Wendy

 

[OldGuy43]

Oh goodie! Another "If ya tend 'em they die." plant.

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

 

[hoodat]

That's about it. They may need an occasional watering the first year but after that it's best to sort of ingnore it. I have a huge one that I have to trim back every year and I have never watered or fertilized it. If you're using it as a spice the flavor is better that way. The bees love it in bloom.

 

[OldGuy43]

That's about it. They may need an occasional watering the first year but after that it's best to sort of ignore it. I have a huge one that I have to trim back every year and I have never watered or fertilized it. If you're using it as a spice the flavor is better that way. The bees love it in bloom.

Good to know. The bees were having a hard time of it last year, what with the drought. I tried feeding them with sugar/water with some success, but they really loved it when my Silverado Sage came into bloom. Nice to know they'll now have another option.

 

[HunkieDorie23]

Lowe's sell the rosemary containers here in the spring and they are so pretty. It has been very hard for me to not buy one but it would die and I don't care for the taste of rosemary so I pass them by. Good luck.

 

[vfem]

My rosemary was 'not a bush' type? I was like WHAT!? I've always seen HUGE bushes of rosemary my whole life. So I got it, and it took off with almost no care at all.

Turns out it never gets taller then 18" and its a grown cover... its spreads like 4'!!!

I have no idea why it won't die... but it smells good.

Wish I had advice for ya, but I never water mine as all, and its evergreen. Pretty resident to death by Shannon, that's for sure.

 

[ninnymary]

Oldguy, I had a rosemary plant in the ground and it kept growing and growing and I kept pruning it and pruning it, until I got tired and took it out. Later on, I got one of those Christmas tree ones from Home Depot. I planted it in the ground and it also grew and grew. I would trim it every 3 months to keep it's topiary shape. The mistake I made was that I planted it too much in the front of the bed. It was beautiful and I struggled for several years wheter to take it out or not. I finally took it out to make room for veggies. It was about 4' tall.

My weather is very different from yours but I pretty much neglected the plants and they did fine.

Mary

 

[CheerioLounge]

I'm out here in the CA hi desert (9a) and my neighbor has rosemary growing like weeds. He trims 'em up to look like a boxwood hedge! And I know he's not watering them much.