Having the right tools and supplies for pruning rosemary ensures precise and proper pruning with minimal risk of damaging the plant. I have seen people recommend all kinds of tools and supplies that might be helpful but are far from necessary to do proper pruning, so I wrote this article to keep it simple and make it easy for you to figure out what you need.
The most important items for pruning rosemary are sharp pruning shears, garden gloves, and a disinfectant solution. These help ensure clean cuts and plant health. Optional items for rosemary pruning include loppers or a hand saw for woody branches and a container for the foliage that is removed.
If you have pruning shears, gloves, and a way to sanitize the pruning shears between cuts, you’re technically ready to start pruning your rosemary.
I recommend taking a look at my list in this article though, as I will also go through a handful of other items you might have lying around that can make the task even easier or more comfortable.
Here is my list of all the tools and supplies used for pruning rosemary including the few that are necessary and a handful of others that I like to use as they can make the task easier or more convenient.
Pruning Shears
A good pair of sharp and clean pruning shears is the only essential tool for pruning your rosemary. They ensure precise cuts and help you achieve good results without damaging your plant.
You can get pruning shears with all kinds of interesting features and functionality but I like to keep it simple. You can get some excellent pruning shears without having to spend a lot. The ones in the photo above were inexpensive and still work like a charm even after having used them for a few years.
The most important thing is that your pruning shears are sharp and clean. If they are dull and dirty, you risk damaging the plant or introducing pests or diseases. This can be avoided by keeping the pruning shears sharp and clean.
Gardening Gloves
Even though you can prune rosemary without it, I highly recommend using gardening gloves to protect your hands from potential scratches from the plant or your tools.
Other than protecting your hands, gardening gloves can also help improve your grip on the plant’s branches and on your tools. Many gardening gloves have textured palms for this exact purpose, but I encourage you to use gloves even if yours don’t have textured palms as it will provide protection for your hands and often still help with grip at least a little bit.
Any type of gardening gloves will work but if you don’t have any and you’re considering getting some, I recommend some tight-fitting ones like the ones I am wearing in the photo above. I have a couple of different types of gardening gloves but I prefer using some tight-fitting ones like those when I prune my rosemary as they allow for optimal control which is important when trying to make precise cuts.
Loppers or Hand Saw (For Thick Branches and Stems)
If you want to prune your rosemary hard, pruning shears might not be sufficient to cut through thick branches.
It can be necessary to use loppers or a hand saw if you want to cut through older, thicker branches that pruning shears can’t cut through. You have to be careful if you do that though, as rosemary doesn’t always grow back if you cut it back by too much.
To make sure you don’t prune your rosemary in a way so that it won’t grow back, check out my article about how much you can cut your rosemary back where I explain precisely how much you can and should cut it back depending on your goals.
Loppers or a hand saw are rarely needed as you generally don’t want to cut your rosemary back by a lot. Pruning shears are almost always sufficient.
Clean Cloth or Disinfectant Solution
It is important that you avoid introducing pests and diseases to your rosemary when you prune it. The best way to avoid that is to disinfect your tools before, during, and after the pruning.
I have sometimes used a clean cloth for this and wiped my pruning shears after each cut but I have found it to be much more efficient to use a disinfectant solution. That way, you can properly clean your tools and prevent unnecessary problems.
The easiest way to clean pruning tools that I have found is to use isopropyl alcohol. I usually put some on a cloth which I use to wipe the tools after every few cuts. This seems to work very well.
A Container (To Collect the Foliage You Remove)
Depending on the size of your rosemary bush, you might be removing a lot of foliage when you prune it. You might want to save this foliage to use it for cooking or you might simply want to get rid of it. Either way, you have to transport it somehow.
You can save a lot of time and make cleanup easier by bringing some type of container with you before you start pruning your rosemary so you have somewhere to store the foliage you remove from the plant.
I usually just grab a bucket or similar when I prune my plants but you can use more or less anything that is large enough to contain all the foliage you are going to remove.
Now that you know about the tools and supplies you need, you can get started. Head over to my article about how to prune rosemary to learn what you need.