Rooting Rosemary All Turned Brown

Question

I trimmed my mother’s rosemary bush and put the trimmings in the ground (stripping the needles off that part) at my house maybe 5 weeks ago. There were a couple of freezes after that.

Anyway, most of them have had all the leaves turn brown. I went to pull them up and noticed they didn’t have any root development, but the “trunk” was still very flexible and seeing them more closely, I noticed some leaves were still a bit to totally green.

Unfortunately, the ground has been damp to wet almost the whole time they’ve been there. Is there anything I can do to encourage the roots to grow, and is there anything I should be doing to keep them from turning brown? We want them to replace some weedy bushes along a ditch, so don’t mind how they look, but the last time we tried this, the plants all died, possibly (now that I think about it) due to lack of root development, or possibly because the soil there is ghastly rock-like clay and there wasn’t enough drainage. The plants themselves had done well where we’d put them which is the same place we have these.

Sorry this is so long; hopefully the info I included is what you need 🙂

Thank you very much for any help you can give me!!!

Answer 1

These articles will help with propagating your rosemary cuttings and fixing your clay soil so that you can grow healthier plants: https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/edible/herbs/rosemary/how-to-propagate-a-rosemary-plant.htm
https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/garden-how-to/soil-fertilizers/how-to-improve-clay-soil.htm

Answer 2

Thanks so much for the article recommedations, Anne and Nikki :) I will be able to use that info to hopefully rescue those which can stull be rescued, as well as for moving along in our project :)

Answer 3

The article Nikki recommended: https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/edible/herbs/rosemary/how-to-propagate-a-rosemary-plant.htm
has an excellent section on rooting stem cuttings. I have found this method successful about 90 - 95% of the time. I usually take 4" cuts and place on a heat bed (80*F.) Never take hard wood, it will not root, and do not keep them soppy wet. I usually put the cuts into small cells, and once well rooted, transplant into a 3 1/2" or 4" pot to grow before planting outside.