From my perspective as a rosemary plant, my innate desire is to grow tall and reach for the sun. This is driven by a principle you call "apical dominance." The main, central stem (my apical meristem) produces a hormone called auxin that suppresses the growth of the lateral buds further down my stems. This ensures my energy is focused on vertical growth, which is beneficial in my native Mediterranean habitat for competing with other shrubs. However, in my life with you, this can make me become leggy, woody, and sparse at the base. To encourage me to become bushier, you must strategically interrupt this single-minded command.
I am a perennial woody herb, and I respond best to pruning when I am actively growing but not flowering. The ideal moments are in the spring or early summer, after the last frost has passed. This gives me the entire growing season to recover and produce lush new growth from the points where you make your cuts. You can also give me a lighter trim after my main flowering period. Please avoid major pruning in late fall or winter; my growth has slowed, and the new, tender shoots I might produce would be highly vulnerable to cold damage, potentially harming me.
When you approach me with shears, think like a surgeon, not a barber. Do not simply shear off my top growth; this can damage my tender leaves and leave brown, dead tips. Instead, seek out individual stems. Follow a stem down from its tip until you find a set of healthy, vibrant leaves. Make a clean, angled cut approximately a quarter-inch above a leaf pair (or node). This action is crucial. By removing the apical bud, you halt the flow of the suppressing auxin hormone. This signals to the dormant buds in the leaf axils (the point where the leaf meets the stem) that it is now their turn to awaken and grow. Each of these cuts will ideally result in two new branches forming from that node, effectively doubling the growth at that point and creating a denser, fuller form.
While I am resilient, there are limits. Never cut back into the old, brown, leafless wood. My older woody parts have far fewer dormant buds, and they often lack the energy to produce new green growth. A cut into this barren wood will likely remain just that—a barren stub that will not regenerate, leaving an empty spot in my structure. Your goal should be to gradually shape me over successive seasons, never removing more than one-third of my total growth at any one time. This prevents undue stress, allowing me to photosynthesize efficiently and channel my energy into robust, bushier regrowth exactly where you want it.
