Learn how to repot rosemary!

Rosmarinus officinalis is the botanical name for rosemary, an herb, a shrub and an ornamental container plant. In the ground, rosemary grows to a height of 6 feet and spreads 4 to 5 feet. It’s much more mannerly when potted in a container, though.

Rosemary, by the way, is hardy to USDA Zones 8 and 9. “A few cultivars like ‘Arp’ and ‘Hill Hardy’ will survive in zone 7 and a few gardeners report success in zone 6b,” according to Melinda Meyers, author of more than 20 gardening books.

You can find your growing zone here.

Steve Christman of Floridata.com suggests using a clay or terra cotta pot for the rosemary plant. If you plan on allowing the shrub to grow large, choose a planter with straight sides to make it easier to transplant the next time.

When choosing where you’ll place your repotted rosemary, keep in mind that the plant requires 6 hours of sunlight per day.

Here are the supplies you’ll need to repot rosemary:

• Twine
• Newspaper
• Planting pot
• Cactus potting mix
• Perlite
• Dolomitic lime

Get the new container ready

If you are repotting a large, heavy rosemary, do so in the same area that it will be growing. This avoids having to lug the heavy pot around.

To make cleanup easier, lay some newspaper down in the area in which you’ll be working. Believe me, you will thank yourself.

Combine the soil ingredients: 2 parts of cactus potting mix and 1 part of perlite. Determine how many gallons of mix you have and then add to it 1 tablespoon of dolomitic lime per gallon.

Pour the mixture into the new pot until it is half full and moisten it with water. You may need to add more mix as the water settles what’s in the pot.

Set the pot aside to drain while you ready the rosemary plant.

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Make it easy on yourself and the rosemary plant

Larger rosemary plants tend to get in the way of the repotting process. To remedy this and avoid breakage, take a length of twine and gently tie the branches together to keep them out of the way when repotting.

Water the plant thoroughly to make it easier to remove from the current pot.

Depending upon the size of the shrub, and the length of time it’s been growing in this pot, this task may be challenging. Lay the pot on its side and slide the shrub out. If it is stuck, try rapping around the outside of the pot sharply, with your hands, to loosen the roots stuck to the inside. If that fails to loosen the plant, run the hose into the pot, while it is laying on its side, to wash the soil from the rootball.

Place the rosemary’s roots on top of the soil mix in the new pot and check to make sure it sits at the same depth it did in the old pot. If not, add or remove some planting mix until it does.

Finish filling the pot with the mix, patting it down periodically with your hands to remove air pockets. Fill the new container to within 1 inch of the rim.

Water the newly potted Rosmarinus officinalis slowly until water seeps from the bottom of the pot. After it drains, water again, slowly, to ensure that the soil and rootball are completely wet. Use your hands to press the soil down around the base of the plant.