How to Grow Rosemary in NZ: Planting, Pruning and Harvest

Updated October 2026

Mediterranean shrub that loves a dry, sunny, free-draining spot and shrugs off dry spells once established. Best bought as a plant or struck from cuttings, as seed is slow and variable. Trim after flowering to keep it compact.

What it looks like as it grows

🌱 Plant profile: Rosemary, with sowing times for your region, companion plants and common pests.

When to Plant Rosemary in Your Region

Rosemary goes in as a plant or a struck cutting for most of the year, missing only the coldest months. These are the planting months for each of our nine New Zealand regions, straight from our planting data. Each region links to its vegetable planting calendar, and the Rosemary plant page has spacing, companions and care notes for your region.

From Northland to Canterbury, our data plants rosemary from August to May, skipping June and July. Otago and Southland plant from September to April, and Central Otago from September to March, so the roots establish before the hard frosts. Once it is settled, rosemary is hardy and shrugs off dry spells.

Best rosemary varieties for NZ

• Tuscan Blue, Upright grower with blue flowers, the pick for cooking and for low hedging. (Tui, Kings garden centres)
• Prostrata (Trailing), Hardy trailing ground cover smothered in blue flowers, good over walls and banks. (Tui, garden centres)
• Common Rosemary, Standard upright culinary rosemary, easy from seed or cuttings. (Egmont Seeds, Kings Seeds)

How to grow rosemary

• Space plants about 60cm apart.
• Sow seed around 0.5cm deep.
• Position: full sun.
• Ready to harvest in roughly 180 days.
• Seeds germinate in about 21 days.

How to Plant Rosemary

1. Choose full sun and gritty, sharp draining soil. Rosemary is a Mediterranean herb and hates wet feet.
2. Space plants about 60 cm apart for airflow.
3. Water only when the soil dries, and never let the plant sit soggy.
4. Skip the fertiliser, because lean conditions give the strongest flavour.

Seed is slow and patchy, so most gardeners buy a plant or strike a soft cutting in gritty mix. Our propagation guide shows how to take cuttings.

How to Prune Rosemary

Trim lightly after flowering to keep the bush compact and bushy. Avoid cutting back into old, bare wood, which rarely reshoots. Woody, bare centres come with age, and light trims little and often are the way to slow that down. Regular picking does part of the job for you.

Growing Rosemary in Pots

Rosemary suits containers. Our plant data calls for a pot of at least 25 cm, filled with a gritty, free-draining mix. Let the mix dry between waterings, because root rot from soggy soil is the most common way to lose a potted rosemary. Our herbs in containers guide covers pots and mixes for other herbs too.

Harvesting Rosemary

Our plant data allows about 180 days for a new plant to establish before regular picking. After that, cut sprigs any time, snipping the soft tips with secateurs, and the regular cutting keeps the bush productive. Sprigs keep for up to 2 weeks loosely wrapped in the fridge, and they freeze or dry well in bunches.

Rosemary also flowers through winter and spring, when other bee food is scarce, which makes it one of the best year-round plants for pollinators.

Companion planting

Grow rosemary near: Sage, Carrot.