Many garden plant lovers love to grow unusual and exotic shrubs on their plots. One of the most beloved is rosemary. Some gardeners cautiously decide to grow it, because they believe that in our regions this plant does not take root well. But through trial and error, an instruction was developed, following which you can settle it in your country house and enjoy the unsurpassed aroma.
Description of the plant and photo
Rosemary repels insects with its scent
Rosemary (Rosmarínus) is a relative of plants such as lavender, lemon balm, mint and basil. You can’t confuse their aroma with anything.
Sometimes you can hear alternative names: sea dew, wedding color or frankincense.
Externally, rosemary looks like a tall shrub (some varieties can reach a height of 1-2 m) with leaves in the form of needles (in this it is similar to conifers). This plant is blooming, so often on it you can see small flowers of pink, white or purple. Its fruits are rounded and resemble nuts.
In nature, there are about 5 varieties of rosemary. The most popular among gardeners is medicinal rosemary.
What is the best way to grow rosemary in Russia
Despite the fact that the spice is still grown in the regions, it is not worth expecting that the plant will feel good under any conditions. For home conditions, low varieties are chosen, for gardening, less whimsical ones are selected.
Rosemary loves light and warmth, severe frosts are deadly for him. In addition to temperature conditions, it is necessary to take into account the quality of the earth. Shrub loves light, loose soil with an admixture of lime.
How well it grows in the regions
Spice was and remains a southern plant, so in the northern latitudes, as well as in the Urals and in some regions of the middle zone, this plant will be problematic to contain. A small amount of light, sudden frosts and inappropriate soil can kill the bush even in the initial stages. If you plan to acquire rosemary, but live in regions with a cold climate, then prefer indoor varieties.
At home, it is much easier to provide comfort to the plant artificially (using lamps, specially selected soil, temperature, etc.)
But the closer to the southern latitudes, the more favorable the conditions for growing rosemary. I must say that even some regions of the Moscow region and the middle zone are suitable, the main thing is that the winters here are not too cold, and the summers are dry.
The southern regions (Kuban, Krasnodar, Crimea) are ideal for cultivation. The only condition, again, will not be a very arid climate, since rosemary is not used to drawing moisture from the air, but from air currents, so even with excellent watering the plant may die due to a lack of moisture in the air.
Role in Landscaping
In warm regions, you can often find a huge bush of rosemary right on the path leading to the house or garden.
Rosemary is good both in group plantings and single
The middle strip is characterized by rosemary decoration of a terrace or spicy beds, since it is very difficult to grow a tall shrub in a place where frost is not so rare.
Sometimes whole borders, and even hedges, are built from this plant, which looks very impressive.
For mid-latitudes, it is still preferable to include rosemary in a mix of tub plants. Thus, you will save yourself from many problems with wintering shrubs. You can combine rosemary with other spices: thyme (thyme), oregano (oregano), mint, lemon balm, etc. You can arrange all this splendor not far from the summer cuisine. As a pair for rosemary, you can plant lavender, sage or juniper.
If you want to choose something for a contrasting vertical, then we advise you to choose eremurus. It will look very impressive
You can try to grow rosemary as a groundcover (this option is very often seen in Mediterranean countries), but here it is worth taking care of the seeds of this particular variety or at least one individual.
How to plant: timing, methods, tricks
In order to grow rosemary in the open ground, you can use several methods of planting. Each method has its own nuances, so carefully read them and choose the right one for yourself.
Ground preparation for rosemary planting
First of all, you need to take care of the soil in which the bush will be planted. Note that spicy greens do not like lowlands and flooded areas. Therefore, for landing, choose a place with a flat surface, but avoid drafts.
Most of all, rosemary does not like acidic heavy soil. In order to please the shrubbery, prepare a simple substrate: mix chernozem with dry leaves, some neutral peat and sand. Take all components in equal parts. Then add crushed lime to the substrate in a ratio of 10 buckets of the substrate 100 g of lime.
The beds for the future shrubs need to start to be prepared 7-10 days before planting. The soil under them needs to be moistened in advance, and 3-4 days before planting, add mineral top dressing to it.
Spring seed cultivation
Germination should begin in early spring. Seeds grow indoors. For this, several containers are usually taken (the main thing is that they are suitable for growing flowers). Of course, you can sow the seeds immediately into the ground, but there is no guarantee that the temperature will be steadily warm, and with this method of growing you will see your rosemary only closer to autumn. Therefore, for those who want to probably see their brainchild in the summer, we advise sowing seeds indoors approximately at the end of February.
Rules and instructions for growing rosemary using seeds:
- Take a clean gauze and roll it in several layers so that you can put a few seeds on one part and cover them with the second.
- Soak one half of gauze in water and spread the seeds on it with a thin layer. After that, cover them with the second half of wet gauze.
- Moisten gauze daily from a spray bottle. In the room where the seeds germinate, the temperature should be constantly maintained at 19-23 ° C.
- The soil on which rosemary will be planted should be prepared in advance.
- After 3-5 days, collect the seeds and sow them with a thin layer, cover it with earth (the layer should not exceed 5 mm). Moisten the soil from the sprayer and close the container with the seeds planted with polyethylene (first you need to make holes in it), then put the container in a warm place.
- Water should be watered three times a day, ideally you need to use a spray gun so that you do not accidentally erode the ground and expose the seeds.
- After about 14 days, you will notice small rosemary sprouts. When the first shoots appear above the ground, remove the polyethylene and set the containers with sprouts in the sun.
- After a couple of months, the sprouts should already be fully strengthened for planting. Moving to the ground is not so difficult: you just need to carefully dig up the sprouts and plant them on the beds.
- Immediately after transplanting rosemary, the earth needs to be moistened.
Spring cuttings
Growing spice in this way is much easier. The cuttings in this case will be the tops of the shoots, which are cut from an adult bush. The best time for grafting is April or early May.
As cuttings, you can also use those bunches of herbs that are sold on the market as a spice
Rules for growing rosemary using cuttings:
- Remove the lower leaves from the branches, partially exposing the stem.
- Put the branches in the water and wait until the roots sprout from them (you can, of course, plant them in a pot of earth and wait until the roots sprout there, but the way with water is more efficient and clear). After the roots have appeared, the stems are ready for transplanting into the open ground.
- The water under the stems needs to be changed every 3-4 days. If you use the pot method, then water the sprouts every other day, but do not overdo the amount of water.
- Noticeable roots should appear after about 20 days. As soon as this happens, you should immediately transfer the cuttings to the prepared beds. You need to plant the stems in the holes with a depth equal to the length of the roots. Water the soil under the planted young trees.
Summer division cultivation
Dividing is the easiest way to get spice in your garden. It does not require preliminary home manipulations such as germination, and immediately makes it possible to plant rosemary in open ground. This is best done in June.
Division:
- Prepare the soil for planting according to the instructions above.
- Next, you should get a bush with a large number of shoots (you can search for this in the store or from someone you know).
- The roots should be removed from the earth and shaken them off.
- Dig holes in the soil with a depth equal to the length of the roots, and plant the sprouts.
- Water the soil.
Care conditions
Proper care is sometimes much more important than taking into account the nuances of planting. There are a few general rules.
Watering
Watering will depend on many conditions, including the region in which the bush was planted. Usually rosemary bushes are watered sparingly. If the weather is hot outside, then you need to water in a day. If it is still cool enough, then watering should be repeated every 3-4 days. It is important to ensure that the soil does not retain moisture and has good drainage, so you have to periodically fluff up the beds.
Top dressing
Active fertilizer should begin closer to flowering. Once a month, from April to August, the shrub should be fertilized. In early autumn and throughout winter, this is needed no more than once a month.
Wintering
The most difficult period for rosemary is winter, since it is not inherent frost resistant. In order to minimize the risk of plant death, you need to build a greenhouse for it, the roots need to be covered with sawdust. Watering for winter time is reduced to 1 time in 7 days. If the spice lives at home, then watering should be done more often - 2 times in 7 days.
Of course, wintering is completely dependent on climatic conditions. In the south, the plant most often does not need any manipulation at all and perfectly winters by itself in the same vegetable garden or garden.
Disease
Rosemary has excellent immunity. It is not susceptible to disease, and its pungent odor scares off almost all pests.
If you still notice a white coating on the leaves and stems, which subsequently turned brown - the plant is affected by powdery mildew. This is not scary - you need to remove damaged areas, transplant into uncontaminated soil and treat with special means (for example, Baikal-M or Fitosporin-M)
Possible growing problems and methods for solving them
When growing rosemary, any problems rarely arise. The most important thing here is to follow all instructions and carry out proper care. But still you need to know about possible errors:
- if the leaves fade and fade, protect the rosemary, he direct sunlight, create a shadow for him;
- if only the lower ones are yellowed, watering should be increased;
- if the aroma of the plant has become weak and the leaves fall, on the contrary, moderate watering;
- if the leaves are curled up and covered with dots, the bush is hit by a whitefly or aphid, spray the plant with a suitable composition (Admiral, Aktara, etc.).
Southern plants are always associated with relaxation, warmth, sea and relaxation, so almost every gardener seeks to have one or two of these green guests on his site. Recently, rosemary is gaining great popularity. Through trial and error, gardeners adapted this fragrant shrub to life in different regions of Russia.
