Propagating Rosemary and Common Sage

Propagation Timing, Techniques and Aftercare for Evergreen Herbs

Mar 9, 2009

Herb growers can cram scores of different varieties of culinary herbs into a small space. Evergreen herbs rosemary and sage are versatile culinary herbs for propagation.

Propagating herbs is a cost-effective way of meeting the needs of a home kitchen and a household's favourite meals. Rosemary and common sage are two evergreen herbs commonly used in Italian-style cuisine and roasts. Knowing when and how to propagate rosemary and sage will save money at garden centres and garage sales buying young plants for picking leaves and save on buying cultivated leaves from farmers markets, greengrocers and supermarkets.

Locating Quality Parent Plants and Materials for Propagating Herbs

Having decided to propagate rosemary and sage for a herb garden at home, there are four main choices of parent plants:

Best Time for Propagating Rosemary and Sage

Propagating rosemary and sage by seed can be done in springtime. Salvia officinalis (common sage) seed and Rosmarinus officinalis (rosemary) seed should be sown indoors in a budget propagator, ideally in a heated propagator, to offer the best chance of germination and a good proportion of seedlings to grow on to young plants to transplant outdoors. An alternative is vegetative propagation of rosemary and sage in the summer months.

Vegetative Propagation Techniques for Propagating Rosemary and Sage

Propagating rosemary from seed in spring may not have as good outcomes as vegetative propagation of rosemary in summer. Michael Pollock writes about culinary herbs in his edited gardening book The Royal Horticultural Society Vegetable and Fruit Gardening The Definitive Guide to Successful Growing (Dorling Kindersley, 2008): "Rosemary can be propagated from seed, but softwood cuttings, as well as cuttings taken from semi-ripened shoots, roots easily and the plants establish well on suitable sites."

Common sage can also be propagated by softwood cuttings in summer. If the parent plant stock for propagating sage is a mature plant, perhaps from a local herb gardener gardening with a similar altitude, aspect, site and soil, then good propagation results could be had by taking softwood cuttings with a small slither of the previous autumn's wood as a "heel".

Rosemary and sage plant cuttings should be planted in well aerated moisture retentive young plants compost, grown under protective measures, including cloches, fleecing or glass, if possible before planting out the following spring in the chosen site in outdoors herb garden.

Versatility of Growing and Harvesting Rosemary and Sage

At any time of year, Rosmarinus officinalis (Rosemary) and Salvia officinalis (Sage) plants can have their leaves regularly harvested for use in cooking. Grey-silvery leaves of common sage and the short dense needles of rosemary retain their aromatic quality in situ even after snowfall, have tasty leaves when picked in full sun and produce new growth throughout the year replenished a herb gardener harvesting for cooking.

Growing Evergreen Culinary Herbs

Regardless of the size and site of their plot, evergreen herbs rosemary and common sage are hardy and have resillence against low temperatures, high winds and frosts. Rosemary and common sage plants will still be producing their aromatic leaves in the snow and low temperatures of the global north. Stroking the plants, harvesting and adding these evergreen herbs to cuisines offers a pick-me-up across the seasons.

The copyright of the article Propagating Rosemary and Common Sage in Herb Gardens is owned by Susan Morris. Permission to republish Propagating Rosemary and Common Sage in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.