How best to propogate Rosemary

Hi,
Have a Rosemary plant in the front of the garden, have already trimmed it back a little but was also thinking of trying to propogate some too for potential placement in back garden or give to another family member.

Come across some conflicting approaches on google, so more unsure than sure.

I have a few plastic 5 inch pots/containers with holes in the bottom and I also have some lawn dressing too.

Is that enough to get me started?

Also, any recommendations on how best to do it? Just fill up pot with dressing and take a cut of a branch from existing rosemary plant and stick it in?

Apologies for very novicey questions.

Thanks

 

Hi @NoviceGardener2023 - there are plenty of ‘how to’ guides on the net but in summary:

Snip a stem 10-15cm and make a sharp clean cut below a node (where leaf attaches) strip most of the lower leaves so just a few cm of green left.
Pop into a pot around the edge (a few per pot) but use a gritty soil mix. Cuttings don’t need nutritious soil and need good drainage. You can speed things up by dipping the end in hormone rooting powder too.
Next wet the soil and place a poly/sandwich bag over to make a little ‘greenhouse’.
Place the pot/s in a sheltered area, not too sunny and check moisture levels periodically. Once you see roots underneath- they can be potted-on.

I hope you have success - it’s great feeling to make new plants for free!

 

The above is the tried and tested method because it works but rosemary is quite forgiving as a cutting and can be rooted in sand or even water. The advantage to water is that it won't dry out when developing roots (you simply pop some cuttings in a glass with the lower leaves stripped off) but you tend to get stronger plants rooting in a substrate.
I like trying different methods to see which I find easier.

 

I've used both the above methods, this GW link gives more detail and looks about right (you don't have to have rooting powder).

 

You could peg down some of the lowest branches and let them root in situ. Ours does that all on its own. We also get quite a few self seeded ones around the original plant.

 

I've used both the 'usual' method and rooting in water. I tend to pop any spare bits in water these days and then pot up whatever roots (which is all or most of them, in my experience!). Very easy.