Despite everyone claiming how easy rosemary is to grow, I have killed more than I would like to admit and I’m sure you have too. So, in order to try and prevent a life of rosemary murder for anyone out there, here are some quick facts about how to make your rosemary happy (and not dead):

1. Humidity and Watering

This is by far the most frequent reason why I killed so many rosemary plants in the pass (much to my 10 year old brain’s dismay).

Most rosemary originally comes from Mediterranean climates by the sea side so they need a lot of moisture. And not just moisture in their roots, but through their leaves.

I found this particularly mind blowing considering that they lecture us over and over to water the roots of flowers and not the leaves. Well, you were wrong grade 1 teacher! For rosemary, you have to do BOTH! I guess that’s why greenhouses are always so humid.

How do you water the leaves? It’s pretty simple actually. When it is very humid outside, bring your plant out and if not, spray the needle like leaves with a spray bottle. If you don’t have one, just sprinkling or wetting the leaves with a messy watering can should do the trick.

That being said, you so have to make sure that you water the roots occasionally, BUT not too often leading to the next point…

2. Soil

Rosemary originally grew on rocky coasts so it would only make sense that they grow in rocky soil.

Like any plant however, you want to have a balance so what I’ve been doing recently, is mixing the very rocky (but dead soil) with nutrient rich compost. There should be less compost than rocky soil. (Quite honestly, I don’t know what happens if you ONLY use rocky soil but I figure a little compost never hurt anyone.)

Note that the soil should have very good drainage. Most of the moisture absorbed will come from the air.

3. Light

Rosemary needs SUN! Usually around 6 hours, give or take. If the sun us really strong, you might want to water the leaves more often, just to be sure they don’t dry out.

Well, that’s a wrap! If you have any questions, feel free to comment although quite honestly, it’s a learning process for me too!