A popular herb often used in cooking, sprinkled over potatoes for a Sunday roast or added to a homemade loaf of focaccia bread, rosemary is also loved by gardeners thanks to its hardy nature. Able to withstand temperatures as chilly as -10C, the low-maintenance shrub is favoured by many gardeners, but there’s one mistake often made when caring for it.
Native to coastal regions of the Mediterranean, many wrongly believe rosemary doesn’t require much watering, but one gardener has warned this could be the reason you’re struggling to grow it. In a video shared by Smith’s Gardentown on TikTok, the fourth-generation family-owned garden centre warned that the one thing people often get wrong with rosemary is not watering it enough.
The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) advises that rosemary is drought-tolerant and needs little maintenance besides annual clipping, but many gardeners mistake this for meaning the shrub doesn’t need frequent watering.
Instead, Smith’s Gardentown said: “I’m going to start off with something controversial, and that is most people kill rosemary plants by not watering them enough.”
The expert explained that while most advice found online, including that shared by the RHS, warns gardeners that rosemary shouldn’t be kept in waterlogged soil, people mistakenly interpret that to mean they shouldn’t water their rosemary plants at all.
“The reality is, rosemary doesn’t like to live in soggy soil, but that doesn’t mean that they don’t like water,” said the expert.
While gardeners who live in a rainy climate should avoid planting the shrub in a low spot that collects water, as this can lead to root rot, the expert advised that those growing it in a container can be more generous with how much they water it.
When grown in a container, or a spot in the ground that’s well-draining, the gardener explained it’s going to be “really hard for you to overwater these plants”.
If you’ve just invested in your first rosemary plant, these will also need frequent watering as they have a smaller root system, which means they risk drying out more quickly.
As rosemary is drought-tolerant, to avoid it drying out completely, Southern Living advises giving it a deep watering every one to two weeks to ensure the soil can fully absorb the moisture.
Knowing how to properly water rosemary can make a huge difference in ensuring gardeners are rewarded with full harvests that can be used in the kitchen for cooking. Smith’s Gardentown also recommends trimming them back frequently to stop them from going leggy.
