Rosemary Bush

Question

My rosemary bush is very large. I am in the Northern Neck, VA and the plant has grown beautifully, but in the last year the bottom area under the green has become brown. A lot of coarse and hard, brown stems. I have never trimmed or pruned it. Can I cut it all back (the brown areas) and then it will come back, cut it all back (and it will all come back as it says in your section about them and do it in stages), or leave it alone? Any help will be appreciated as I have never seen one this big before.

Answer 1

You can do what is called rejuvenation pruning. Rosemary responds will to that when it has aged and gotten woody. This article has a section on how to perform this kind of pruning (about half way down):
http://pubs.ext.vt.edu/430/430-459/430-459.html