Someone gave me a HUGE old rosemary bush ( probably 4 ft. x 4 ft) recently, a real treasure, but she hated it because of allergies. I knew Rosemary is fickle, and with the size of this bush and the heat it would be a gamble but I dug it anyway.
The roots are very shallow and spread outwards. I buried the roots well, watered in the dirt and covered everything good. I watered deep upon planting, and have watered every other day but sparingly as rosemary hates wet feet. I knew it would happen, this morning (almost 2 weeks after planting) the limbs are all dry and dead, needles falling everywhere. Question: Can I prune the big dead branches off and save the roots and lower limbs to recoup somehow or is it a lost cost? I really HATE to lose this baby.
Help Need advice on keeping huge transplanted Rosemary alive
I have almost the same problem. My Rosemary tree had been in pot for about five or six when I decided to put in the ground ... now it looks all dried out, It has looked like this before I think ... anyway can I still use that dried rosemary off the bush?
Don't see why not Slyvia...you buy it dried in the stores..
"eyes"
Yeah Eyes I think so too. I think the bush is a goner, but it has dried up on me before. I need to know how to prune the tree too, it do not look like the Rosemary trees in pictures.
Darkmoon I apologize for taking over your thread,but its a good topic.
Karen is your transplanted rosemary in the direct sun? I know rosemary likes a lot of sun and mine is in direct sun. Mine is huge and I've had it for a very long time in the same spot in the garden.
I don't know about pruning off the large dead branches. Maybe someone else will have some advice. It's so hot right now and very dry here at my house that if I were you and your plant is in the sun I would shade it with something. Shade cloth or even an umbrella weighted down with some bricks or rocks. I think I would water it a little more than you normally would since you just transplanted it. I sure hope it will live. I know how you feel about special plants. ;)
Lin
darkmoondreamer-
you could give it a temporary break from the sun, by propping up an old window shade, or sheet, or anything that would filter the intense sunlight we are currently getting, for a few weeks...
Also, did you give it an immediate 1/3 trim? If not, I'd recommend relieving that bush of at least 1/3 of its foliage(not more than half, though!) so that it has fewer leaves to take care of...
sounds like that is what it is currently trying to do...on its own. :0)
good luck with it.
-T
oops...not trying to repeat what dancey just said,...we were typing at the same time...
Sylvia, no problem! Lin, it is in morning sun, afternoon shade, sort of an indirect area. I hesitated to put it in full, all day sun. I'm really afraid to cut back now because I do want to protect those roots. I think I will put an umbrella over it, perhaps cut back in the fall and continue to water. I never have been able to keep a rosemary alive and REALLY wanted this beauty. Thanks Seedpicker, I will do that also.
This message was edited Jul 30, 2008 10:43 AM
Well I just trimmed 1/3 of the branches off and watered heck out of it, then shaded it with a huge patio table umbrella. I think it sighed......LOL! It already looks better and I noticed that the needles were still soft and pliable farther down the stalks so maybe it still has a chance. I'll keep you posted. Thanks all!
I transplanted one back in the fall and it sulked for a long time. I thought I had lost it but it eventually started growing again. Just give it time.
:) Kim
I had one in a pot that I had thought was dead (every single needle was brown and dried up), but a few months later a few green needles grew out, and now it is large and full again and I recently had to prune it again.
Dennis
I had my yard crew clean out a bed year before last and they thought I meant 'everything'. They dug up my large rosemary. If I recall, it was July. I replanted it and the poor thing looked dead for about a month or so. I cut off all but the bottom foot of the entire thing and while, it's much smaller than it was before the accident, it's beautiful now. Patience is the key, I think. Try not to overwater even though the branches look thirsty.
I guess I need to cut mine back too ... thanks guys!
Prune it back severely. Then apply SuperThrive (only according to directions; more is not better) immediately. Re-apply every 4 to 5 days and you might bring it through. Do not waste your money on any other so-called root stimulator. SuperThrive is the only one that tested out successfully at A&M back in the nineties. I use it with every plant I put it; new or transplanted.
Transplanted rosemary has the best chance of surviving if moved in the winter/early spring. What you're fighting is the damage to the "water-uptake" roots. They were severely affected by transplanting and this is not the best time of year for them to re-establish themselves. Rosemary is usually very drought tolerant and (down here in the Banana Belt in Houston) we have to struggle to keep their feet dry. You have the opposite problem at this time of year.
Good Luck
Leslie
But I always use Root Stimulator when I first re pot or plant a new plant! I swear by it, but I only use it once. with Super thrive and MG mixture. The bottle says you have to use Super thrive with a liquid fertilizer... is this not true?
Karen if you are getting any rain from these TS's it should really help your Rosemary Plant.
Lin
No, Lin....damaging winds but not ONE drop of rain, I'm so disgusted, LOL! I have now pruned it back SEVERELY and applied the Super Thrive, and am keeping it watered.
Sylvia, it is to use for repotting or potting a new plant, OR reviving plants that are in trouble. The bottle says NOT a fertilizer, add TO not instead of I think so that people will know it is an additive, not fertilizer itself. That doesn't mean that you can't use it alone. Still hoping for the best, the Rosemary looks like hell. All needles turned brown and fell off, but I'm still praying. I'd sure hate to lose this beauty.
hhmmm and all these years . LOL I swear my little mixture works ;) I bought some Fish emulsion today for my Desert Rose, it has not bloomed all summer. I got one at the office too, I sure hope they can take the smell for a while. LOL
HOLY MOLY I see one tiny little new sproutling on a big dead looking root! I'm excited, perhaps there is hope after all.............
Karen did you ever get any rain? We finally eeked out 3 inches here. Sure glad to get it too.
Yea!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I knew that baby would start putting out tiny leaflets.
Wonderful news!!!! I have a very old and very huge Rosemary plant that I've thought about moving but I've changed my mind now. lol I'll just work around it. It has been in the same spot since it's birth.
Keep us updated as to how yours is coming along.
Lin