The Mediterranean rosemary has been a well-known and valued spice and medicinal herb since ancient times. The shrub is quite demanding in terms of its location: it should have as much sun as possible and the soil should not be too rich or too firm. When it comes to care, however, rosemary does not require much attention.
How should you properly fertilize rosemary?
Rosemary should be fertilized sparingly: For garden rosemary, it is sufficient to add some compost or horn shavings in spring. Potted rosemary only needs fertilizer if it is repotted less often - liquid fertilizer is recommended every six to eight weeks until August.
Fertilize planted rosemary
For rosemary planted in the garden, the same applies when it comes to fertilizing as when it comes to watering: In principle, garden rosemary does not need to be fertilized because the very widely branched roots are optimally adapted to the extremely poor conditions of the Mediterranean homeland able to extract the smallest ounce of nutrients and water from the earth. It is sufficient to fertilize the rosemary bush with a little compost (€12.00 on Amazon) or with horn shavings at the beginning of the growing season - i.e. in spring. However, rosemary should under no circumstances be fertilized in autumn or winter.
Do not mulch rosemary
Many gardeners like to mulch their beds because it saves work - the mulch means fewer weeds emerge that need to be pulled down. However, Mediterranean herbs such as rosemary should under no circumstances be mulched, as bark mulch in particular retains moisture. This in turn causes rosemary to be too wet, which the drought-loving plant cannot tolerate at all. Instead of bark mulch, however, you can cover the bed with gravel, coarse gravel or pebbles in a rosemary-friendly manner and thus adapt it to the conditions of the Mediterranean home.
Fertilize potted rosemary
Just like garden rosemary, rosemary in pots should only be fertilized very sparingly. If you repot your plants in fresh substrate once a year, regular fertilizer applications are completely unnecessary. However, if the rosemary is transplanted less frequently, fertilizing with diluted liquid fertilizer is possible approximately every six to eight weeks. Start fertilizing in spring and stop around the beginning / middle of August - from this point on the plant has to prepare for the winter break and therefore no longer needs any nutrients.
Tips & Tricks
Rosemary is used to calcareous soil, which is why you can give your Mediterranean herbs a treat with a little lime once or twice a year. You can also work the lime into the soil before planting in the bed or pot.
