My mum wanted to help me out by doing some gardening while staying at my house.
Unbeknownst to me she cut my rosemary bush down to the bare bones while I was working. I stopped her before she could attack the top. Granted it was getting overgrown, but I’m worried it’s been cut way too close to the branches and won’t grow back.
What’s the damage like? Can I expect it to grow back?
by HoandCo
33 Comments
Yes
Your mum actually will never grow back, I’m sorry
Rosemary is extremely prolific, I wouldn’t worry about it at all. Just put a few Bio Gold pellets in the soil every 3 months and you are good.
u good! haha you could cut it down to a stump and it would regrow. dont worry a bit.
Yes. Theyre insane.
It wouldn’t have grown to this size unless its really thriving. It will grow back in no time. In general, beware of mothers and mother inlaws armed with pruners and garden hoes
Edit: I found out the hard way when my well meaning mother in law went to town on a flowerbed planted with native plants ( early in the year before they were blooming) and removed with unerring precision most of the I planted. I suffered a minor nervous breakdown
Terrible prune job, but they’ll grow back.
What in the world do you do with all that Rosemary other than just let it grow
I have some of these by my garage and Ive cut them down to stumps and they always regrow haha
Just let mum know that pruning shears work on fingers too.
Mmm , grilled rosemary chicken skewers, with lemon and olive oil.
The more i prune mine the bigger it gets.
Rosemary is the only thing that stays alive in my garden, I’m convinced it can survive a nuclear bomb
I’d cut it back to the ground honestly. You could probably get a months worth off a twig. Also rosemary doesn’t really need a raised bed to grow
Absolutely
Just chiming in from a somewhat harsh climate with multiple rosemary bushes.
Those bushes can handle quite a bit of abuse both by human hands and temperature and environment wise.
😳 that’s a MASSIVE rosemary! I was trying to swipe for the cut, but this IS the cut one. Wild. How old is it?
It’s a shame it’s just going to dry out and not get used
Rosemary is nearly indestructible. We have a 8’x55′ planter area covered in Rosemary. Live in the mountains @ 4200′ elevation.
Snow buries it in the winter months, doesn’t bother it one bit.
Summer heat 105° with little watering, no problem.
I trim it back yearly, it grows right back.
It’ll look fine in time
I think it will be just fine. It’s such a strong plant.
You should dry the branches your mom pruned and use them to cook though!
I mean, it’s a terrible prune job, but rosemary’s a champ. The bush will be fine.
Yea two seasons and it will look like before.
Trim the top more next. Rosemary gets old and leggy if you don’t hack away at it annually.
I have one in my yard that was hit hard by a sub zero freeze last winter. Fully half of it died all around and I thought I might should just pull the rest up. Instead, I cut it back hard but misshapen to see what would happen. It filled out beautifully this summer and you’d never know it was once so damaged.
Now I don’t recommend letting them get overgrown before taming them, but I suspect yours will be fine next year. I’d probably trim the top in the spring to encourage new growth on the sides rather than up. Good luck!
It will probably come back even happier. A lot of woody plants like rosemary like a good cutting back.
You should have let her finish the top. Now it looks like a disheveled broccoli head.
Its Randy Johnson!
Yes, it could do with further pruning to be honest, it’s really out of control.
Now you can make wreaths of rosemerry. Amd yes that will grow back. You could even make your rosemary oil.
She left too much
If anything, you might consider pruning it yourself a bit more. Rosemary has a tendency to get leggy and dry in the middle. If you want nice tender green shoots it needs a solid haircut every now and then. Will help with the shape too.
Forgive the woman that give birth to you and move on that bush will keep growing and outlast her
It will probably grow back happier, honestly.