Growing Rosemary

Include rosemary in your garden for its delicious leaves and you'll find yourself savoring its beauty, too. Most varieties of this low-maintenance herb are perennial in zones 8 and warmer; some upright (tall-standing) types can survive the winters a little farther north as well.

Let us teach you how to grow rosemary.

Prep

Plant rosemary so it gets full sun. Rosemary hails from the Mediterranean, which means it can survive heat, drought, and salt spray. Herbs from this region also demand good drainage, so use soil that's light and well-drained. Some gardeners mix a handful of fine limestone gravel, small pebbles, or chicken grit into planting holes to improve drainage.

When growing rosemary in planting beds, mix 3 inches of Miracle-Gro® Garden Soil for Vegetables & Herbs into the top 6 to 8 inches of soil to add nutrients and provide better drainage. In raised beds, blend equal parts of garden soil and potting mix. When planting rosemary in containers, make sure they're at least 14 inches across, and fill them Miracle-Gro® Potting Mix (garden soil is too heavy and dense for pots).

The best time of year for planting rosemary in the ground depends on where you live-spring is ideal in cold-winter regions, fall in warmer regions.

Plant

When growing rosemary, it's best to start with young plants, as this herb is difficult to grow from seed. Be sure to water thoroughly after planting.

Grow

The top challenge with growing rosemary is overwatering. In the landscape, give newly planted rosemary consistent moisture throughout the first growing season. After that, rosemary benefits from deep, infrequent watering. In containers outdoors, water rosemary only when soil is dry. For rosemary in pots that are overwintering indoors, water sparingly.

When growing rosemary in humid regions, you can help reduce mildew outbreaks by mulching around plants with 2 inches of pebbles or limestone gravel. Heated by the sun, the warm stones evaporate water quickly, reducing the surrounding humidity.

Rosemary grows best with regular doses of plant food. Starting a month after planting, feed with Miracle-Gro® Water Soluble All Purpose Plant Food according to label instructions.

Harvest

Once rosemary reaches several inches tall, you can harvest at any time by clipping individual leaves, growing tips, or longer branches. Cut rosemary will retain its fresh flavor for 7 to 10 days when refrigerated. Dry stems by hanging them in bunches upside down or spreading them on drying screens.

Use

In the kitchen, rosemary provides a great seasoning for meats, soups and stews, and vegetables. It can also be chopped into olive oil and sprinkled with salt to make a tasty dipping sauce for bread. Unlike most other herbs, rosemary has its strongest flavor when fresh (not dried).

In the garden, plant upright rosemary varieties as hedges and shrubs. Prostrate rosemary varieties, which creep along the ground, create a wonderfully scented ground cover. Rosemary usually flowers during cool seasons, when fewer plants are blooming, providing a good nectar source for bees.

Ready to start growing rosemary? Click on any of the product links above for more information, to purchase the product online, or to find a retailer near you.