Rosemary Christmas Tree Care Tips

Those petite rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis) Christmas trees you see at the home improvement store, in the market and at your local nursery are charming to look at, but can be a bear to maintain. That doesn't mean you shouldn't try, though.

Rosemary Tree Maintenance

Because they look and smell so wonderful, miniature rosemary Christmas trees are almost irresistible. If you just have to adopt one of these seasonal beauties, make sure to take a look at the tips below. 

Rosemary Christmas Tree Care

Rosemary trees sold as Christmas decorations have a beautiful triangular habit like real Christmas trees. This isn't natural. This isn't close to being natural for rosemary. Immature plants whacked and tortured into this shape are suffering from shock and need pretty favorable conditions in which to recuperate. Watch for drooping or dry needles that may indicate trouble ahead. If you follow the recommendations below, you will probably be able to salvage the plant and have a viable specimen after the holidays are over.

• Don't repot. Rosemary doesn't like to be repotted until it is root bound. If you like to give your houseplants a great start in life by repotting specimens as soon as you get them home, resist the urge. Wait until early spring or early summer.
  
  
  
• Watch the heat. Keep rosemary away from heat sources like warm electronics and heat registers. If you must keep your tree near a heat register, consider adding a baffle to divert the dry, hot air away from it.
  
  
  
• Avoid Drafts. Most plants prefer predictable weather conditions, and the draft coming from an open door or window can cause leaf drop and other problems. Rosemary is no exception. If you want a tabletop tree in the reception area of your home or business, try a baby conifer and keep your rosemary in a more protected area.
  
  
  
• Provide abundant light. Although you can place your tree in a decorative spot, like on top of your dining table, if there isn't much sun in your preferred location, the plant will suffer -- and by this we mean it may decide to call it quits before Christmas Day.
  
  
  Ideally, you want to give your plant 6 to 8 hours of  bright light daily. It should be good light, too. That means light bright enough to cast a shadow on the floor when you hold your hand in a sunbeam. An unobstructed eastern exposure is good. A southern exposure is probably better in most areas.
  
  
  Good light is important for rosemary, but you can cheat a little by placing it in a decorative low-light location for a day or so and then putting it back in a well illuminated area. Rosemary Christmas trees are typically small, so moving one around in service to your decor (and your plant's continued well-being) isn't much of a hardship.
  
  
  If all else fails, invest in a plant grow light. So many people are into the houseplant hobby these days that there are lots of lighting options to choose from and many are reasonably priced and energy efficient.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Be careful when watering. If you've killed a rosemary tree in the past, the problem was probably over-watering. Outdoors in the proper climate, rosemary grows like a weed, but it's demanding when placed in an artificial environment.
  
  
  Rosemary will rest over the winter and doesn't need much water. It does need some humidity, though. Check the plant once every week to 10 days and water it sparingly if the soil surface feels quite dry.  When in doubt, mist the plant leaves and soil instead of watering, and check again in a couple of days. 
  
  
  Another good idea is to keep rosemary with your other houseplants when not using it as decoration. The combined humidity created by the plants produces a favorable microclimate.
  
  
  
• Remove the decorations. Those cute decorations wrapped around the branches of your rosemary are not plant friendly. Remove them as soon as possible. Otherwise, loosen them, and hopefully they won't cause too much damage to adjacent needles and supporting stems.
  
  
  

Deal with the decorative paper wrapper. The cheerful gold, red or green wrapper around your rosemary tree's pot can trap water. If the roots of rosemary sit in water, they die -- quickly. When the roots die, the plant starves to death. You can handle this a few ways.

• Remove the wrapper.
  
  
• Leave it in place and be careful to dump any residual water 20 minutes after each and every watering session.
  
  
• Place a tray outfitted with a layer of marbles (or stones/sand/grave) between the wrapper and the pot. The water will drain down into the tray and away from the plant's roots.
  
  
  
• Harvest sparingly. Unless otherwise noted for the plant you've purchased, you can harvest rosemary to use in your holiday dishes. Be careful to take no more than a quarter of the plant if you wish to keep it alive and well beyond the holiday.
  
  
  
   
  
  
  

• Consider the future. Rosemary can't tolerate a hard frost. There are some exceptions -- cultivars designed to survive to, say, U.S. Hardiness Zone 6 or Zone 5 if maintained in a protected area. The rosemary varieties used to create holiday topiaries are not usually the winter hardy varieties, so keep this in mind *.
  
  
  If you live in a climate colder than Zone 7 and plan on keeping your rosemary tree after the holidays, you'll need to maintain it indoors until the weather warms up in spring. Next fall you'll have to bring it back inside, too. 
  
  
  Overwintering plants indoors isn't uncommon. You may even come to enjoy it and consider your plant commuters part of your extended family. To deal with seasonal changes, consider repotting before putting rosemary outside to enjoy the warmer weather. A terra cotta pot may be heavy, but it can help with moisture control when you bring the plant back indoors in the fall, so it's a good investment.
  
  

Before you buy

If you haven't made a purchase yet, here are some timely suggestions.

Look for a bright green, vigorous plant.

Run your hand along its stems to make sure the needles aren't shedding (an important sign of problems).

Check the decorative wrapper (if you can) for standing water under the pot, and reject any plants that have been sitting in water.

If you do find a specimen you like and plan on transporting it in cold weather, protect the plant by placing it in a protective bag for the trip home. A paper bag provides the best insulation from the cold. Don't linger.  Even an hour in a winter cold car can hurt the survival prospects for most houseplants.

* If you want to explore some winter hardy rosemary options for your garden next year, Arp and Athens Blue Spire (hardy to about -10°F) are good choices.