Rosemary is a semi-shrub whose older shoots first become woody and then bare. Regular pruning is essential to ensure that your beautiful plant does not become unsightly and low-yielding with age. However, you can also take advantage of the woodiness of the rosemary and raise a standard stem.
Cut rosemary regularly
Frost-sensitive herbs such as rosemary should be brought into shape with a radical cut in spring if possible. On the one hand, however, you should be careful not to cut off the fresh, soft shoots - the older ones from the previous year must be removed. Therefore, the right time for a cut is before the new shoots sprout. On the other hand, this point in time cannot always be observed, since it is better not to cut when night frosts are announced. There is a very solid reason for this: every rosemary has replacement buds that sprout if the first tender shoot tips freeze in a late frost. You cut off these replacement buds if you cut them too early and the plant can no longer sprout. In the course of the year, prune the rosemary as evenly as possible during the harvest.
Raise a rosemary stem
For a self-grown rosemary stem, you first need an older, woody rosemary. Cut away all woody branches except for a single upright, as well as other side shoots. A few branches remain only in the upper crown area, which have to be trimmed into a pleasing crown shape. Do not cut into the woody parts, but leave a few centimeters of green wood - rosemary, like so many sub-shrubs, does not sprout from old wood. As a further care measure, you should regularly prune the new shoots so that they branch out nicely and grow together into a bushy crown. The best time for such an educational pruning is late spring or early summer, when the herb is in the "juice". The time is advantageous in that the growing shrub will sprout more quickly. In addition, the cuts heal faster.
tips and tricks
If possible, don't just harvest individual needles or small twigs, but whole branches. What you don't use immediately, you can preserve in a number of ways.
IJA