My gardening mistake stopped my herbs from growing back – an easy fix encourages fresh foliage, I never have to buy them
IF you’re someone who grows your own herbs, a common mistake may be preventing them from flourishing.
A gardening expert demonstrated her go-to hack to encourage fresh foliage on her plants.
In her viral video, Sandra (@potting_shed_veg) explained how the simple trick helps herbs grow back after cutting.
The Instagrammer told her followers that she began growing plants such as rosemary for cooking.
However, after cutting sprigs for her recipes Sandra noticed they never grew back.
The green-thumbed pro revealed that taking full stems from the plant was the mistake.
“I discovered this is because rosemary does not regrow from old wood,” she said.
Sandra showed her followers the best way to cut their herbs to ensure regrowth.
“To keep rosemary compact and encourage fresh young foliage, I now trim it back lightly quite often as we use a lot of rosemary,” she explained.
She demonstrated the technique, trimming the tops of her plant with sheers.
“The plants now look much better and the cuttings provide us with fresh and then dried rosemary so we need never buy any,” Sandra said.
She collected a plastic container of rosemary sprigs while keeping her plant intact.
Betty Goergen, a master gardener at Oregon State University Extension spoke to Seattle Times about pruning rosemary plants.
She recommended leaving your plants for “a couple of months” before attempting to cut them.
“Rosemary does not take kindly to pruning and will not regrow from a pruned branch as other plants do,” she explained.
“Since there is new growth on top of the plant, see how it looks later in the season.”
She suggested cutting dead branches off and pruning your plant to shape it.
Easy gardening tips to save money, maximize space, and repel pests
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- Banana peels, vinegar, and coffee grounds are often recommended as natural fertilizers.
- Dollar Tree sells four packs of seeds for $1.25.
- Try a vertical planter like Amazon’s Mr. Stacky 5 Tier Stackable Planter, $35 to make more use of a small space.
- Use netting like the Garden Netting Pest Barrier, $8, from Amazon to keep away bugs that eat your vegetables.
- Try sacrificial planting to reduce the use of pesticides and keep pests away from your garden. Deliberately growing certain plants to attract agricultural pests can keep them away from the plants you want to protect. Examples include marigolds, lavender, catnip, and chives.
- For pesky weeds in your garden, the Grampa’s Weeder – The Original Stand-Up Weed Puller Tool with Long Handles, $45, from Amazon is a helpful tool you can use without having to bend over.
The expert cautioned that “the areas you cut back generally will not regrow.”
Instagram users shared their thoughts on Sandra’s advice in the comments section.
“Ooh, thanks for the tip! I cut it and boil it up to make rosemary water for hair rinses,” wrote one viewer.
“Now you tell me when I’ve killed so many rosemary plants!” joked another follower.
“Thank you. I wasn’t aware you were meant to just give it a haircut. I was taking whole stems too,” commented a third person.