On Fri, 7 Oct 2011 Nick Maclaren wrote:

[ Old rosemary out of shape. ]

What can I do? Options:

1. Pull it out and start again with a new one?

I can't never keep them going for more than about 5 years, but they
aren't very long-lived even in poor soils, and most varieties tend
to get shapeless as time goes on.

2. Prune it back? But then it won't grow out again from the base, will
it?

Young rosemaries might - old ones won't.

3. Prune some of it back? This last is what I thought I would do but (a)
I've still got a straggly shrub, and (b) it might kill it off anyway.

Right.

I don't want to start all over again as I use quite a lot of it in
cooking. However I must do something as I can't reach the vine growing
on the wall above it. And, anyway, I'm ashamed of the sight of it!

Layer it, in a pot if you need to. When the layers have rooted well,
scrap the original plant and put the layers in the soil.

That's a good idea and one which I hadn't thought of. I'd thought of
taking cuttings but that's a bit iffy. Layering is more secure. Thanks,
Nick!

David

--
David Rance writing from Caversham, Reading, UK
http://rance.org.uk

On 07/10/2011 10:25, Emery Davis wrote:
On 10/06/2011 04:24 PM, Martin Brown wrote:
On 06/10/2011 15:14, Spider wrote:
On 05/10/2011 19:14, Emery Davis wrote:

I'm looking for the hardiest possible weeping rosemary cultivar. To
drape down a low wall. We very occasionally see -15C. Any suggestions?

I grow Rosmarinus 'Severn Sea', which Jekka McVicar's site call "frost
hardy". However, it has survived in my garden for 4-5 years, despite the
heavy snowfall and frosts of the last two winters. It is on heavy clay,
but at the front of a retaining wall, perhaps similar to your intended
site. The wind often whips it and tosses it back on itself, so it is
fairly exposed. There was a tiny bit of damage last year, but the plant
is doing well. It has the most beautiful blue flowers

In my experience it isn't winter hardiness that kills it so much as wet
feet and/or a nasty white fungal branch rot that starts from the top.


For sure it doesn't like wet. Even in the dryest spots here I can
usually only keep a plant for 5 or so years before it dies off. The
usually do fine until then and then die quite suddenly. We don't get
white fungus, just die back over big sections.

Look very carefully in the leaf nodes of the die back areas an try a
magnifying glass. I am pretty sure you will see very fine white hairs of
the fungus. You can with surgery keep them going longer by cutting back
well past the point showing obvious signs of disease.

The wall where it's going is however exceptionally well drained even in
winter. It's got bulbs in spring which do OK if there's rain, but
beyond that I've managed only sedums, sages, thymes and a couple of
pinks. So rosemary seems an obvious choice.

Dry continental style cold probably won't harm it but many days of cold
damp conditions lingering around freezing point will.


Conditions here are actually not dissimilar to parts of Devon but a
couple of degrees colder. -15C is very extreme, in any case we haven't
seen that for any sustained period. (I guess I've seen it a couple of
times over 20 years). It's my "absolutely safe" limit, really; I used
it because Fillipi mentions several rosemaries good to -15C but all upright.

We grow many zone 8 and even a few zone 9 plants, although the winters
before this last one were very hard on the garden and I did lose quite a
few established ones.

-E

I lost all my bamboos and a fig tree last year in the early onset winter
I thought the latter was supposed to be cold hardy once established
too - although it had obviously not read the rules!

Regards,
Martin Brown

On 10/07/2011 12:47 PM, Martin Brown wrote:
We grow many zone 8 and even a few zone 9 plants, although the winters
before this last one were very hard on the garden and I did lose quite a
few established ones.

-E

I lost all my bamboos and a fig tree last year in the early onset winter
I thought the latter was supposed to be cold hardy once established
too - although it had obviously not read the rules!


Yup, I am bambooless (bamboozled?) now too. I lost several well
established Himalayan maples too. We're certainly in a difficult cycle
currently, I'll be delighted to swing back the other way a bit. Don't
fancy the cold at all.

Sorry to hear about the fig tree, I thought they were pretty tough too.
We don't really get enough sun to give one a go.

-E

On 10/07/2011 11:32 AM, Sacha wrote:
Could you grow the Mexican Fleabane that David mentions? That's if you
haven't already got it and are fed up with it seeding itself
everywhere! It's Erigeron karvinskianus and we love it. It looks
marvellous dotting itself about in crevices and seems to flower for
ages, on and off, mostly on!

I saw his post, and I intend to try!

On 10/07/2011 11:07 AM, wrote:
my thymes this spring, but didn't touch the marjorams, rosemary,
winter savory and hyssop in the same locations. Well, I say "it",

Hyssop, there's a good idea also for my wall. I used to grow it but it
died after a while; also I didn't keep it cut back properly so it got
very leggy.

Pretty flowers though, and excellent with rabbit!

-E

On Fri, 7 Oct 2011 Janet wrote:

In article ,
says...

I don't want to start all over again as I use quite a lot of it in
cooking. However I must do something as I can't reach the vine growing
on the wall above it. And, anyway, I'm ashamed of the sight of it!

Layer it, in a pot if you need to. When the layers have rooted well,
scrap the original plant and put the layers in the soil.

That's a good idea and one which I hadn't thought of. I'd thought of
taking cuttings but that's a bit iffy. Layering is more secure. Thanks,
Nick!

If you want to save some for cooking meanwhile, cut a bunch of healthy
leafy looking twigs, rinse bag and freeze them.. defrosted they are fine
to stick in a leg of lamb etc or pull some leaves off for baking focaccia
etc.

Yes, I might well do that, though I've never been a fan of dried/frozen
herbs as they seem to lose their flavour. Still, that's better than not
having any at all.

David

--
David Rance writing from Caversham, Reading, UK
http://rance.org.uk

On 10/07/2011 03:00 PM, David Rance wrote:
On Fri, 7 Oct 2011 Janet wrote:

In article ,
lid says...

I don't want to start all over again as I use quite a lot of it in
cooking. However I must do something as I can't reach the vine growing
on the wall above it. And, anyway, I'm ashamed of the sight of it!

Layer it, in a pot if you need to. When the layers have rooted well,
scrap the original plant and put the layers in the soil.

That's a good idea and one which I hadn't thought of. I'd thought of
taking cuttings but that's a bit iffy. Layering is more secure. Thanks,
Nick!

If you want to save some for cooking meanwhile, cut a bunch of healthy
leafy looking twigs, rinse bag and freeze them.. defrosted they are fine
to stick in a leg of lamb etc or pull some leaves off for baking focaccia
etc.

Yes, I might well do that, though I've never been a fan of dried/frozen
herbs as they seem to lose their flavour. Still, that's better than not
having any at all.


If you like to BBQ, or grill over an open wood fire as the French do,
another use is to throw a bunch under the meat or veg just as it
finishes cooking. It flames up with a lot of smoke that adds a terrific
rosemary-smokey flavour.

-E