The Mediterranean rosemary has been a well-known and valued spice and medicinal herb since ancient times. The shrub is quite demanding when it comes to its location: It should get as much sun as possible and the soil must not be too rich and not too firm. In terms of care, however, rosemary does not require much attention.
Fertilize planted rosemary
The same applies to fertilizing rosemary planted in the garden as to watering: In principle, garden rosemary does not need to be fertilized, since the very widely branched roots, which are optimally adapted to the extremely meager conditions of the Mediterranean homeland, contain even the smallest bit of nutrients and able to draw water from the earth. It is sufficient to fertilize the rosemary bush with a little compost or horn shavings (32.93€) at the beginning of the vegetation period - ergo in spring. In autumn and winter, on the other hand, rosemary must not be fertilized under any circumstances.
Do not mulch rosemary
Many gardeners like to mulch their beds because they save work in this way - the mulch (€239.00) means fewer weeds that have to be weeded out. However, Mediterranean herbs such as rosemary should never be mulched, as bark mulch in particular stores moisture. As a result, rosemary is too wet, which the drought-loving plant does not tolerate at all. Instead of bark mulch, however, you can cover the bed with crushed stone, coarse gravel or pebbles in a rosemary-friendly manner and thus adapt it to the conditions of the Mediterranean homeland.
Fertilize potted rosemary
Just like garden rosemary, rosemary in the pot should only be fertilized very sparingly. If you repot your plants in fresh substrate once a year, regular fertilizer applications are even completely superfluous. However, if the rosemary is transplanted less frequently, it can be fertilized with diluted liquid fertilizer about every six to eight weeks. Start fertilizing in the spring and stop again around the beginning/mid of August - from this point on the plant has to prepare for the winter break and therefore no longer needs nutrients.
tips and tricks
Rosemary is used to calcareous soil, which is why you can treat your Mediterranean herbs with a little lime once or twice a year. You can also work the lime into the soil before planting in the bed or in the pot.
IJA