You may have heard that rosemary can grow without being pruned and while that is true, there are many good reasons why you should do it. I wrote this article to explain exactly that. Why it can be important to prune your rosemary.
The primary reason why rosemary should be pruned is that it promotes growth and helps keep the plant healthy and productive. Stems will split into two or more when cut, causing the plant to become bushier and produce a bigger yield. Additionally, pruning away dead or infected foliage can prevent problems.
While these are the primary reasons why pruning is important, there is a lot more to it. There are several benefits of pruning rosemary and also some consequences if you don’t. I cover all of this in detail in this article.
8 Reasons Why It Is Important to Prune Your Rosemary
It is easy to overlook the importance of pruning your rosemary but you should know that it has a lot of benefits and can reduce the risk of several problems, so it is absolutely worth spending the time it takes.
I have been growing rosemary for many years and I have not always been as good at pruning it as I am now, so I have definitely seen what proper pruning can lead to. On top of that, I had a good and long talk with my father-in-law who is highly educated in horticulture and agriculture and has worked in the fields for several decades.
We came up with a lot of reasons why it is important to prune rosemary or at the very least a great idea. Here they are:
- Pruning promotes growth
- Pruning increases productivity and gives bigger yields
- Pruning makes the plant bushier
- Pruning can improve airflow
- Pruning can prevent pests and diseases from spreading
- Pruning is used to remove dead growth
- Pruning can help plants fit in spots with limited space
- Pruning can help make plants more aesthetically pleasing
As you can see, the main benefits of pruning your rosemary are that it helps keep the plant healthy and increases productivity.
If you feel convinced that pruning is a good idea and you’re ready to get started, check out my full guide on how to prune rosemary.
Pruning can also be used for practical or aesthetical reasons, such as fitting the plant to a specific spot, or to control its shape or size.
The reason why rosemary becomes more productive when you prune it is that it forces the plant to spend more energy on the production of new foliage. The primary reason is that it will cause the stems that are cut to split into two or more, thereby increasing the overall amount of foliage and thus the yield.
On top of that, pruning is used to remove old foliage that might be dying or can be infected by pests or diseases. Removing that foliage allows the plant to spend more energy on producing new, healthy foliage and might even prevent the plant from dying if the problem is severe. You can learn more about how to remove dead growth from rosemary here.
While pruning isn’t the most complicated task you will have to do when growing rosemary, it is not without risk. In fact, there is a handful of common mistakes that can damage or even kill your plant. I cover some mistakes people often make when pruning rosemary here.
As you can see, pruning comes with a lot of benefits but as I mentioned at the beginning of this article, rosemary can actually grow without ever being pruned. Growing it like that has some consequences, though, so I will get into that now.
What Happens if Rosemary Is Not Pruned (Consequences)
Rosemary technically doesn’t need to be pruned. It grows naturally all over the Mediterranean region where it thrives without anybody pruning it.
That said, it is a really good idea to do when you grow it at home. I will explain what happens if you don’t do it now.
Not pruning your rosemary has some consequences. Here is what happens:
- It will become tall and scraggly instead of bushy
- The production will be low
- It is at higher risk of being infected by pests or diseases
While these things are not exactly desirable, your rosemary will still survive if you don’t prune it (as long as you take care of pests and diseases). You should just know that it won’t become as bushy and productive as it could have been.
I have traveled a lot in Spain, which is one of the countries with the most rosemary growing naturally. That’s where the photo above (which was taken by my dad) is from.
As you can see in that photo, the plant has a lot of woody parts compared to green foliage. That is primarily because it has never been pruned properly as it grows naturally outside with nobody taking care of it.
If you compare the photo above to this one from the garden, you can clearly see the difference in how dense the foliage is. This plant is much more productive compared to the one above because it is being pruned properly.
Even though this plant is younger and significantly smaller than the one in my photo from Spain further above, it has more green foliage that is fresh and ready to be harvested. This is exactly why it is important to prune your rosemary.
On top of that, pruning promotes new and fresh growth rather than keeping the old foliage. New and fresh green leaves taste much better than older leaves since they can become bitter with time. That’s another reason why I always recommend pruning because, for most of us, the goal is, after all, to eat some of the plants we grow.
Additionally, pruning is an excellent way to keep the amount of dying or infected foliage to a minimum, which is important for keeping it healthy.
If your plant is infected by some pests or diseases, you don’t necessarily have to prune the entire plant if prefer not to or if it is the wrong time of the year (learn about the best time to prune rosemary here). The most important thing is that you remove the infected parts of the plant as fast as possible to prevent the problem from spreading.
So while it can survive and grow just fine without ever being pruned, you will be able to harvest a lot more of those tasty leaves from your rosemary if you do it.
If you aren’t sure how to tell if you should do it, I have written another article which I recommend reading. In it, I cover several signs that rosemary should be pruned.