Air layer Rosemary

[fredman]

Has anyone successfully air layered a Rosemary before? I have one in a pot that I grew up from a cutting 6years ago. It has an inch thick trunk now, and I want to put it into a smaller pot. I believe they don't like their roots disturbed much. If I have to I will shorten the roots over a few seasons, but if it does respond to layering then that will be a better way to go.
I cant find any info anywhere about air layering it.
Please any help will be appreciated.....

[mtarros]

I have posted my first air layering of a rosemary on this forum, it did produce roots but I worked it too hard and killed it.

They don't like a lot being done to them at once, I would play it safe and reduce the roots over time.

So when reducing just gently take the outer layer of the root ball using a chopstick.

[fredman]

That's good news. Happy to hear they do produce roots. What do you mean by worked it to hard?

[kcpoole]

I assume he meant that he reduced the root mass to quickly.

Ken

[fredman]

Yeah that is my understanding to, but in this case it was air layered and that confuses me. Was the air layered roots worked to hard? That surely cant be the case.....
I would prefer to layer it and then put it in a small pot. From then on I will remove very little roots at a time. My thinking is that is the fastest way to get a biggish Rosemary into a bonsai pot, given that they don't tolerate root pruning very well.

[Gerard]

I have seen some good rosemary bonsai and I have made a couple of failed attempts. They are not an easy species to work with because they often lose branches unpredictably. My favorite was grown locally by an experienced grower and died after a about ten years he cannot say why. I think they are simply a species which is likely to have a short life as a bonsai. It makes me appreciate them more when I see a nice one.

[fredman]

Agreed. I think they need a deeper pot to free the roots up some. It might not look the best, but hey if that's what it takes to keep it happy(ish) then so be it

[mtarros]

Hi,

I did clean out the roots and maybe i took the layer off too early also.

Ii was potted up and styling so I tried to do everything too quickly. (Working it too hard )

Also i have read about other people trying to layer and it failed so not sure if i was just lucky also.
If its really decent stock i would hold off and try layering a test one to see if you can layer one successfully.

Thanks
Michael

[fredman]

Thanks Michael. I think the best way to go is to layer one of the side branches, and reduce the main tree roots veeery slowly. Looks like I need some luck with this one.
Watch this space.....