Rosemary is not the most popular culture among Russian gardeners, but in recent years it has been increasingly found in the garden plots of the Moscow region. Many summer residents quite successfully manage to grow culture in the open field.

Features of agricultural technology

When planning a crop such as rosemary growing in the open field in the Moscow region, one should take into account the specifics and characteristics of the plant. Be sure to keep in mind that a lack of sunlight will inevitably affect the saturation of rosemary grown in the garden with essential oils. If the concentration of oils is low, the rosemary flavor will not be overly intense. In this regard, you should not choose a shade for planting. The best option will be the middle option - an area where the sun is present, but not throughout the day.

When planting a useful product in the garden, you should also take into account the location of groundwater. Excess moisture can be detrimental to the plant.

The plant needs a light sandy soil, in no case acidic and necessarily drained. In such soils, seedlings will grow at the highest possible speed, because water will flow to the root system without delay. Planting rosemary in open ground should be accompanied by liming of the soil, if the latter is too acidic.

Rosemary

Important! Drainage for the soil, if necessary, can be done with your own hands. All that is required for this is to lay a layer of broken brick or large pebbles at the bottom of the planting hole.

Answering questions about rosemary in terms of planting and care in the open field, one cannot fail to mention the requirements for temperature and other growing conditions. The culture does not grow very well in conditions of strong temperature changes. Therefore, cultivation of such a culture as rosemary in Siberia is not the most problematic. The same can be said about the Urals. As for the Moscow region, the temperature is relatively stable here. Most often, it is enough to pick up a site protected from the winds in the south or east sides of the garden for planting rosemary.

Overwintering rosemary when grown outdoors should involve moving the plant to a warm location. It can be an apartment: a windowsill or a heated balcony. The most important thing is to provide the plant with the right amount of sun or appropriate artificial lighting and a temperature regime from +5 to +15 degrees.

Reproduction of culture

Speaking about growing and nursing rosemary in the garden, the first thing to mention is plant propagation.

Medicinal rosemary

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Several ways are possible:

  • cuttings;
  • layering;
  • dividing the bush.

The easiest way to grow rosemary is by cuttings. In addition, landing such a plan will require minimal care.

The easiest way to obtain cuttings is to use annual young shoots. For this purpose, the shoot is cut off, the cut site is placed in a special solution to stimulate root growth and prevent the development of infections. After a couple of weeks, when the roots begin to sprout, it is time to plant the cutting in the prepared soil. Then you should take care of the planting in the same way as for an adult plant.

Another commonly used method of planting and growing rosemary in the country is by using layering. For open ground, this method of propagating and growing crops is the most preferred. In this case, choose a strong, healthy low-growing shoot and bend it to the soil. In this position, the plant is fixed and buried. It is very important that the top of the shoot remains on the surface. Watering the layers should be parallel to the bush. The ground covering the plant should remain moist at all times. As soon as it becomes visually visible that the top has begun to grow and stretch upward, the layers must be carefully separated from the mother bush and transplanted to the garden bed.

By dividing the bush, it is most convenient to propagate rosemary growing indoors. This is done simply. The plant is taken out of the pot, its root system is cleaned of soil and divided into several parts.

Important! When multiplying rosemary by division, each part should have a sufficiently developed root system and healthy shoots.

Slices can be sprinkled with charcoal powder, and then the culture can be planted in different pots.

Dividing the bush

Sowing with seeds and planting seedlings

A crop such as rosemary is practically not grown in the open field in the Moscow region from seeds. But if suddenly there is a need for this, for sowing seeds it is necessary to wait until early spring comes. Whether it is the Moscow region, the Leningrad, Rostov region or any other region, when looking for an option on how to plant it from seeds in open ground, you will need to consider growing seeds at home. This will require any containers: pots or boxes. In principle, you can plant the seeds directly in open ground. But in this case, you will need to wait until stable warm weather is established on the street. If cultivation is carried out in such a region as the middle zone of Russia, then the plant will hardly have time to grow by the time autumn comes.

In order to be able to get a harvest by the middle of summer, it is recommended to sow the seed in pots in February, and to transplant the already grown seedling into open ground closer to May. More precisely, the moment when you can plant rosemary in open ground will tell the weather conditions. If there is a risk of frost, or the spring is late, it is better to postpone the planting of seedlings.

Most often, planting with seeds is practiced if the plant is planned to be grown in an apartment on a windowsill. In all other cases, this approach turns out to be unnecessarily laborious and impractical.

Culture care

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Having decided to plant this culture in your garden, it is not enough just to find out how to plant rosemary correctly, when to plant rosemary in open ground, how rosemary winters, or what neighborhood it accepts. It is equally important to provide the plant with proper care.

Despite the fact that rosemary is not too picky, certain efforts will have to be made to get a decent harvest in any case.

Watering

Rosemary in the apartment

The plant should be watered regularly, but not too abundantly. The culture does not tolerate excessively wet soils well. But this does not mean that this procedure can be neglected. When rosemary lacks moisture, the leaves begin to turn yellow. So it's incredibly important to stick to the middle ground when growing it.

Loosening and weeding

To keep the rosemary healthy and strong, the soil in which it is planted must be loosened. This manipulation will provide oxygen access to the plant's root system. Proper loosening involves breaking the crust on the soil surface. In parallel with this procedure, weeds should be removed. The first loosening is carried out immediately after the snow melts, as soon as the ground begins to warm up.

Top dressing

Timely feeding of the plant is of no less importance. It is useful to add a solution of cow manure to the soil in a ratio of 1: 5. But it can be replaced with complex mineral fertilizers, which include nitrogen and phosphorus. It is enough to process the soil with them no more than once a month.

In the spring, nitrogen fertilizers will be quite effective. Their introduction is necessary for the formation of a full-fledged root system. In the fall, experts recommend using formulations that include phosphorus.

Pruning

Plant pruning is done for the purpose of rejuvenation. After this procedure, the plant begins to form fresh shoots more actively. Pruning also has an aesthetic function. Cropped plants look more beautiful. Formative pruning is best done in spring, late March or early April.

Pruning

Shelter for the winter

If the cultivation of rosemary is carried out in the southern regions, it is absolutely not necessary to cover the plant. But in the middle lane, where severe winters are by no means uncommon, it is better to play it safe and provide the culture with a reliable shelter. There is also an alternative solution - it is allowed to transplant rosemary into a pot for the winter and move it to warmth.

How to harvest

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Knowing when and how to harvest is no less important than understanding how to plant rosemary in your country house. The greenery of the plant is subject to collection. Fresh young stems and leaves are usually cut off. There is no specific harvest time for rosemary. This can be done throughout the growing season as new shoots appear.

The culture is used either directly for its main purpose - it is added to food, or harvested for the winter.

The highest concentration of essential oils in a plant is found during the flowering period of the crop. It is at this time that it is recommended to collect rosemary in order to harvest it for the winter.

Rosemary is extremely healthy!

Harvesting is recommended in clear and sunny weather. Cut off only the young parts of the plant.

The collected branches are tied with twine and hung to dry in a dark, well-ventilated room. Alternatively, you can dry the herbs in the oven. This method will save time, and quite significantly.

The collected shoots can be cut. Store the dried and ready-made seasoning either in rag bags or in glass jars. If you do not make mistakes when harvesting and storing the plant, the seasoning will easily retain both its aroma and all its beneficial properties for at least three years.

Some gardeners prefer to freeze their crops. This method of harvesting rosemary is also allowed. For freezing, the leaves and stems of the plant should be distributed in plastic containers or plastic bags in a not too thick layer and sent directly to the freezer.

You don't have to love rosemary to plant it in your garden. But having familiarized yourself with all the advantages of this culture, you, for sure, will have a similar desire. You should not deny yourself its implementation. Moreover, successful cultivation of rosemary does not require special experience and deep knowledge.