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Anyone grown a Rosemary hedge?

M33R4M33R4 Posts: 291
in Plants
I love Rosemary  <3

I am thinking of growing lots of it like you would Buxus into a little hedge perhaps? 

Anyone have direct experience of growing Rosemary please?
How did you grow it? In rows? In beds? In pots?

Anyone trimmed it into shape or made it into a mini hedge?

What's the tallest it got to?
I wish I could garden all year round!

Posts

  • philippasmith2philippasmith2 Posts: 3,742
    A Rosemary hedge is quite possible if the soil and aspect is suitable.  They can look good for several years if they are picked regularly.
    Rather like the other shrubby herb types ( Lavender/ Sage ), they will eventually become very woody and taking cuttings every 2 or 3 years will enable you to replace when necessary.
    I've known Rosemary to get to a height of 4 feet but it was rather sparse and not terribly attractive.
    There is a prostrate Rosemary if that would suit your plan rather than the upright.
  • M33R4M33R4 Posts: 291
    Amazing reply there @philippasmith2  :)

    Much appreciated.
    I wish I could garden all year round!
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    It would also depend where you are and what your climate is like. It doesn't thrive very well here where I am, and needs overwintering under cover to ensure it's survival. I always grew it in pots for that reason, although I don't bother growing it at all now.
    It was fairly easy from seed though, as long as the timing was right - ie sown in late spring/early summer so that it germinated more easily. 

    In warmer parts of the country, it should be perfectly possible to grow as a small hedge though.  :)
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • PlantmindedPlantminded Posts: 3,580
    It needs well draining soil and sun to do well.  I grow the prostrate variety to cascade over walls, there’s also a very upright variety called Miss Jessopps Upright which could be suitable for your hedge.  One downside is that the plants regularly drop needles which is fine in a border but not next to paving, if you’re fussy!  More details: https://www.jekkas.com/products/rosemary-miss-jessopps-upright
    Wirral. Sandy, free draining soil.


  • Simone_in_WiltshireSimone_in_Wiltshire Posts: 1,073
    My neighbour used to have a huge Rosemary bush with a size of 2x2 meters for many years. His garden is in partly sunshine (gets 5 hours a day) and heavy clay soil.
    Where I used to live before, they had huge Rosemary bushes in front of houses which were most of the time in the shade, but had the same size.
    I myself made the experience that Rosemary grows happily if it gets partly sunshine like 2 hours in the morning and 4 hours in the late afternoon. When I moved my Rosemary pot into the sunshine last year, it died even before the heat/drought time.
    This year, I moved it to the old place.

    I found a picture from one of the front gardens 14 years ago. I remember especially the Rosemary bushes because I love their smell.


    I ♥ my garden.

  • NollieNollie Posts: 7,529
    I grow the standard rosemary and cut it back regularly to reduce woody growth as much as possible and keep it producing fresh new growth but I think it would be hard work to keep it as a ‘little’ hedge long term - depending on what you mean be little - because it wants to grow big and bushy. ‘Miss Jessopp’ might be easier in that respect.

    The prostrate one has naturally long, trailing branches so it’s not really a neat or small hedging plant, but it does look good tumbling down my stone wall:
    Mountainous Northern Catalunya, Spain. Hot summers, cold winters.
  • bédébédé Posts: 3,095
    edited April 2023
    I grow rosemary formally clipped in a herb garden.  They needed regular clipping to keep them to shape, not just the sprigs you take of for cooking.  They are one of the plants that won't sprout from brown wood, so don't cut tjem back too far.  Little and often.

    The rosemary you get in the herb section of a garden centre generally has a boring grey flower, there are better blue coloured varieties to be had.  Simone's looks like a good one, but I don't think the forum pics are 100% reliable for colour.  I grow 'Severn Star' but it has narrow leaves and is not very vigorous. But letting them flower can interfere with the training.

    If height is important there are fastigiate varieties that would be best.  If I remember the name I will revert.*

    I grew a prostate rosemary tumbling down a wall in Devon, but lost one in a quite mild winter in Surrey.  They are slightly less hardy.

    * "Miss Jessop's Upright"

     location: Surrey Hills, England, ex-woodland acidic sand.
    "Have nothing in your garden that you don't know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."
  • Joyce GoldenlilyJoyce Goldenlily Posts: 2,933
    I grow the Miss Jessops Upright rosemary as a standard specimen shrub. It is growing in full sun all day, in poor gritty soil in very wet mild Cornwall. It is now around 3ft tall and has 3 stakes around it because my garden is really windy. When happy it can grow to around 4/5 ft. To make it into a hedge you would need to clip it all over, especially the lower section to keep the foliage growing. I have never seen a rosemary hedge but the plants would need to be planted fairly close together because Miss Jessop does not spread sideways very much, unlike lavender. 
    I do not grow the ordinary rosemary because it becomes a very large bush and has a tendency to split open at the crown, exposing a bare centre. I have been contemplating trying to grow the horizontal variety along the top of my Cornish banks but I am not sure if there is enough soil to support it.





     
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