Creeping/trailing rosemary (Prostratus)

LeadFarmer · April 2023

Anyone grow 'rosmarinus officinalis prostratus' in their garden?

I'm told it is great for bees and I'd like to grow one down a wall I have in my garden. I've been trying to buy a plant online but they seem quite expensive after postage, around £20 for one plant. Are they easy to grow and look after?

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6030279/uploads/editor/wi/kswpu28ll4zg.jpeg

Lizzie27 · April 2023

@LeadFarmer, I'm growing one down a clayey bank in full sunshine and don't do anything to it. It unfortunately doesn't stop the weeds/grass growing through it
though. You're right, the bees do love it. I'll give it a quick trim once it reaches the bottom of the bank. I'm sorry I can't remember how much I paid for it, must have been in a GC as I don't usually buy plants online.

Plantminded · April 2023

They need a sunny location and free draining soil to do well. I had one growing down a sandstone wall, similar to the one in your photo, which was quick growing once established and flowered regularly. After about 8 years it got very woody, like most Rosemaries, and kept shedding needles so I removed it. I now have a young plant in a similar position which was unaffected by the recent winter wet. Another, only about three feet away, in much less sun, didn’t survive. I think I bought the young plant I now have for about £8 in a local garden centre. Definitely worth growing if you have the right soil and location, the bees love it!

bédé · April 2023

I grew one successfully on a wall in Dartmoor. One I grew in Surrey died from a cold winter (much milder than the recent one).

The bees find any old rosemary just as good.

They are vey easy to grow in poor soil. And cuttings root easily. £20 is much too much.

Singing Gardener · April 2023

I had one which thrived for several years with little attention but has succumbed to the cold this winter.

LeadFarmer · April 2023

I'll have a look at a few garden centres and try and find one, don't want to be paying £20 for a single plant.

coccinella · April 2023

For a pot of two litres 20 quid (incl postage) seems unfortunately the going price even here.
https://www.promessedefleurs.com/vivaces/vivaces-aromatiques/romarin-rampant-rosmarinus-officinalis-prostratus.html

I have bought one years ago, no trouble whatsoever. I never water it and sits in a very sunny spot. The only problem is that it sheds quite a lot of needles, which in my case fall down some stairs which need sweeping. One year it flowered in December and was quite a show.

thevictorian · April 2023

One of ours succumbed this winter but we still have another I grew from a cutting last year. We paid £1.50 or something originally, as they just come in the normal 9cm herb selection at the garden centre. Ours grew pretty quickly and the cutting will be a decent sized plant next year.

CrankyYankee · April 2023

I have one that I purchased as a tiny plant very inexpensively at a garden center last summer, but it's in a pot and indoors as it would never survive the winter here. I've had fantastic luck with creeping thyme, which is simply smothered in bees all summer. Luckily it's hardy enough to be left in the garden over winter and once established, it just explodes, so I can divide it annually. I don't think it's as pretty as the rosemary, though.

Nollie · April 2023

Even including postage that seems very expensive. Its pretty vigorous and grew fast from a tiny pot. I chop it back a lot because it takes over. It looks very primped and pruned in your photo, mine is less neat and grows in poor soil over a 1.2m wall:

JennyJ · April 2023

If you're not in a desperate hurry to get one it's worth keeping your eye on B&Q, Homebase etc. They often stock a selection of herbs at some point in the spring/summer. Local garden centres too.

Creeping/trailing rosemary (Prostratus)

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