Saving an uprooted rosemary plant?

A friend had a rosemary plant that was growing in the ground, outdoors year round in zone 7, and about 11/2' tall.
I was planning on getting a cutting from him this spring, after the plant was growing well.
However, long story short, a few days ago they thought it was dead and tore the whole plant out and were going to throw it away. I got a hold of this "throw away" and want to try to save it. I was going to try to replant into a pot with potting soil at the same depth that it was growing in the ground, water, and place in a southern facing window. (some leaves are pale-ish green)

-Any ideas or tips?
-Trim roots and top of plant to fit an 8" pot I have on hand?
-Should I fertilize? (I have miracle grow liquid for houseplants, slow release granules all purpose miracle grow, and miracid powder)
-If it does survive, would it be a good idea to try starting a cutting from new growth?

This message was edited Mar 26, 2009 3:51 PM

I would definitely not fertilize it at this point--it's not a good idea to fertilize things that are under stress. You could try Super Thrive--it has vitamins and things in it and many people swear by it for helping plants that are struggling like this. And since it's not a fertilizer, the worst thing that can happen is it won't do anything.

I also would not trim the roots unless it looks like some of them are rotting--the more healthy roots you let it keep the easier time it'll have recovering.

And lastly I'm not sure the south facing window is the best place for it right now--once it recovers a bit that'll be fine, but for now I'd probably put it somewhere that is bright but not in direct sunlight.

On the cuttings--if it recovers that's certainly fine to do, but I'd wait until you're confident it's recovered and it has a bunch of nice new growth.

Thanks,
I got the entire plant into a 8" pot, and only trimmed the branches (to make cleaner cuts) that were split or broken from it getting pulled out the ground on it's way to the garbage. Watered it and spray misted. Placed it, as suggested, near the southern sliding glass door, but in more away from the direct sunlight.

There was a branch included that was cut by the previous owner that had green growth. So, I'm attempting to root 3 cutting taken from the tops that are 2" long with the bottom half striped of leaves (needles) and placed in damp seed starting mix. Thought this might improve my potential for success - something hopefully will survive.

Has nice strong rosemary aroma.

Especially while the plant is recovering, make sure the soil is draining well, and keep it on the dry side. Rosemary doesn't like too much water.
With the cuttings, let them dry enough that the cut end 'wound' heals over before leaving them in that damp seed starting mix, otherwise they might just rot instead of rooting.