The Benefits of Growing Your Own Rosemary

I first learned about the therapeutic benefits of rosemary when I was a depressed grad student who found herself rubbing some rosemary leaves between her fingers on her way to campus every day. Now, I plant rosemary throughout my garden. Not just so I can smell that woodsy scent when I step out to tend my plants, but also for pest protection.

That's right! The smell of rosemary repels common garden pests like carrot flies, slugs, and cabbage worms. It even repels mosquitos if you rub the leaves on yourself. You can even plant rosemary near plants that are prone to pests to mask their scent with this stronger-smelling herb. That's why there's the old garden wisdom to plant rosemary at your garden gate. I take this a little further and plant rosemary anywhere I can fit it.

Rosemary is, of course, one of our most popular culinary herbs, and it's long been used to stimulate hair growth, increase blood flow, alleviate muscle pain, and improve memory.

It's definitely an herb worth having on hand (major understatement), so let's look at how to plant, grow, and harvest your own organic rosemary.

Rosemary Varieties

There are two main forms of rosemary: arp rosemary (also known as upright rosemary) and trailing rosemary (aka prostrate rosemary). I love the look of trailing rosemary spilling elegantly over the side of a raised bed, but many of my clients prefer growing arp rosemary. The leaves get a little bigger and are, therefore, easier to use in the kitchen.

Is rosemary a perennial?

Rosemary is a perennial herb from the mint plant family. It's what we call a woody herb since it develops more and more woody stems as it grows. In moderate climates, rosemary can continue growing throughout the year and even turn into a bush. It's especially great at hanging on in the heat of summer. That means some gardeners have fresh rosemary year round!

Can rosemary survive winter?

Rosemary isn't as hardy as other perennials like oregano and thyme. It'll typically only survive winter in zones 7 or up. In zones 7 and 8, it'll die back after a couple of frosts and then return from its roots in the spring. If, however, you live somewhere with temps that drop below 15°F in the winter, you'll either need to treat rosemary as an annual or overwinter it indoors.

I've had a lot of success transitioning rosemary indoors each year. Just pot it up and place it near a sunny window, preferably one that's south-facing. It won't produce as many leaves as it does outside, but it'll continue growing moderately until you can move it back out in the spring.

Rosemary Growing Conditions

Unless you live in the Mediterranean region, rosemary is not native to your area. So your main job is to recreate an environment that feels like home to your rosemary plant by growing it under its ideal conditions. I should also mention that rosemary is a bit more temperamental than the other perennial herbs in the mint plant family.

Season

Rosemary thrives during the warm season. Plant rosemary when the temperatures are in the 60s, 70s, or 80s, and you'll get so many leaves. Make sure to add rosemary to your garden 6 to 8 weeks before you expect to experience temps outside of this range so that your plants can get established first.

Sunlight

Rosemary, along with oregano and basil, needs a bit more sun than the other herbs. Put your rosemary in a spot that receives sunlight nearly all day long. Your plant will survive with just 4 hours a day, but you'll get way more leaves if you give it closer to 8 hours.

Site

I've had the most success growing rosemary in a raised garden bed or container, rather than in the ground. That's because I've been gardening in areas with clay-heavy soil, which rosemary does not like. A raised bed or container filled with well-draining soil is going to make rosemary feel right at home. You can plant rosemary right on the edge of your container so it doesn't take up too much space.

If you prefer to grow rosemary in the ground, amend the top 6 inches of your native soil with coarse sand and compost to improve drainage.

How to Grow Rosemary in a Container Garden

To grow rosemary, pick a pot or container at least 6 inches deep. If you pick something that's also at least 12 inches wide, you can grow rosemary alongside some of its cousins, like sage, oregano, and thyme. These herbs thrive together, even when you pack 'em in.

Make sure your container is food-safe and has good drainage holes in the bottom. You don't want the roots of your rosemary plant to be sitting in water. Before filling your container, put some weed barrier cloth or burlap in the bottom to keep the soil from leaving the container every time you water. Fill your container with a mix of potting soil, coarse sand, and compost.

Now you have a great setup that'll keep your plant healthy and be easy to move indoors during a freeze. Learn more about setting up an herb garden.

How to Source Your Rosemary Plant

Rosemary is one of the slowest herbs to grow from seed, so I recommend planting rosemary from a rooted cutting or buying a plant from your local nursery. Buying herbs is more expensive than starting them from seed, but your rosemary will hopefully last at least an entire season in your garden and give you tons of leaves. I always consider buying perennial herbs worth the investment.

Rosemary is pretty easy to propagate. All you have to do is take a few cuttings from a mature plant, strip the lower leaves, and place the stems in a small glass of water in a sunny windowsill while you wait for roots to form. Once the cuttings have produced several inches of roots, you can transfer them to a pot.

Let's look at how to grow rosemary from seed for those of you who are super patient.

How to Grow Rosemary from Seed

Last year, I started rosemary, oregano, thyme, sage, and marjoram from seed, and rosemary was by far the slowest to sprout. Start your rosemary indoors 10 to 12 weeks before your last frost date so that your rosemary seedlings are ready to go for spring. You'll need grow lights, a seed starting tray, and organic seed starting mix. Follow these steps.

Step One

Rehydrate your seed starting mix with water so that it's moist but not dripping wet. Fill your seed starting tray to the top with the mix.

Step Two

Rosemary seeds are tiny, about the same size as lettuce seeds. Wet your finger and use it to pick up a couple of seeds at a time and then dab them on the seed starting mix. They only need good soil contact; they do not need to be covered. Try to only drop a few seeds into each cell so that you don't have to thin very many plants later.

Step Three

Turn on grow lights for 10 to 12 hours a day, and keep the mix consistently moist while you're waiting on germination, which takes about 15 to 30 days. Once your seedlings have a couple leaves, cut the weaker-looking ones so that you're only growing one seedling per cell.

Step Four

Begin hardening off your rosemary seedlings as soon as you're past your last frost date.

Step Five

Use a dibber to make large planting holes so that you can avoid root disturbance as you're transplanting rosemary to the garden. Water your plants in well.

Rosemary Plant Care

Rosemary is fairly easy to keep alive throughout the growing season. It's drought-tolerant once it's established in your garden (think of a dry Mediterranean hillside). It really just needs a minimum of care and attention.

Keep the soil around your herb plant clear of dead leaves and debris, where pests like to hide. Rosemary is rarely affected by pests, but this is a good practice for your herb garden overall. If your plant develops any yellowed or discolored leaves, prune them. Other than that, you really only need to water and feed your rosemary plant.

How to Water Rosemary

For an herb like rosemary, the danger lies not in watering too little, but in watering too much. You want to let the soil dry out a bit between waterings. So before giving your rosemary herb more H20, stick your finger into the soil. If it feels dry about 2 inches down, give your rosemary more water. If you feel any moisture in the soil, don't water just yet.

Don't worry if you're growing rosemary next to other perennial herbs like oregano, sage, lavender, or thyme. These herbs also like their soil to dry out between waterings.

How to Fertilize Rosemary

Herbs grown in rich soil don't really need anything else to keep them happy. That's why I recommend adding some compost to your container or raised beds before planting rosemary. If you feel like your plants need a little boost, you can add an organic fertilizer high in nitrogen. Add this liquid fertilizer when you're watering or spritz the leaves. I typically just sprinkle some earthworm castings around my herb garden every quarter.

What to Do When Rosemary Flowers

If you still want to harvest more rosemary sprigs this season, prune the flowers before they bloom. This tells your plant that it needs to devote more energy to leaf production before forming flowers. It's not the end of the world though if your rosemary flowers. The pretty little purple blooms attract tons of pollinators to your garden.

You can even eat the flowers, if you're so inclined! They taste like the leaves but a little sweeter. That's one thing you're not likely to experience if you only ever get your herbs in little plastic packages from the grocery store, right?

How to Harvest Rosemary

Once your rosemary plant is established in your garden, you can (and should!) harvest sprigs regularly. Harvesting actually tells your herb to ramp up leaf production, so the more you harvest, the more you get!

You can harvest rosemary several different ways. You can use your fingers to pinch soft stems near the top of the plant, right above a leaf node. Harvesting this way will encourage your plant to branch out more because that single stem will produce two new stems.

You can also use a clean pair of pruners or scissors to cut an entire sprig near the base of the plant. Start with the outermost branches first and work your way in. This type of harvesting is great to maintain air flow around your plant. It also keeps the plant from getting too woody. If you're growing trailing rosemary, you can train your plant to drape over the side of the raised bed more by cutting from the back of the plant.

Follow what I call the golden rule of harvesting and never cut more than a third of a plant at a time. Your rosemary needs a week or two to bounce back before you return for more harvests.

How to Use Fresh & Dried Rosemary

My favorite way to use rosemary is fresh from the garden. I like to step out to the garden to harvest herbs as needed, but you can also store rosemary in a small glass filled with fresh water or wrapped in a damp paper towel in the fridge.

Drying and storing rosemary extends the time you can enjoy it to the entire year. To dry rosemary, tie some sprigs together like you're making a little herb bouquet. Hang it upside down somewhere dry and dark. After a couple weeks, strip the leaves from the stem and store them in a jar.

Rosemary is heavenly on baked chicken, roasted vegetables, and mashed potatoes. You can toss it into soups and stews. I've always found the combination of olive oil, lemon juice, and rosemary to be perfection in the kitchen.

Outside of the kitchen, I love to make this super easy rosemary hair rinse to stimulate hair growth, soothe my scalp, and keep my hair soft. Rosemary sprigs also add beautiful greenery to floral arrangements.

Grow Your Own Year-Round Supply of Rosemary

Whether you're enjoying your rosemary fresh or dried, you'll find the flavor is so much better than the store-bought kind. And guess what? You never have to buy rosemary from the grocery store ever again.

Just grow 1 to 2 plants per person in your family. Harvest from these herbs weekly, use half fresh, and dry the other half. That's how you create your own year-round supply of rosemary with barely any effort.

I hope you love having this amazing herb in your garden as much as I do!