[catllar]

About 6 years ago  I planted some prostrate rosemary in a gravel bed. They grew like triffids and have been glorious. This spring they  flowered their socks off as usual, but then started to drop their needles, preceeded by the growing tips going all limp. I have pruned out all the dead stuff but fear the worst  as today I can see further signs of wilt. There are no signs of insect damage. Have they just reached their sell-by date or is there hope?

[Trillium]

As far as I know there's no shelf life for rosemary, but then, nothing lives forever. Possible sources of problems could be that you've had a lot of rain or the plant has been splashed with water often or you live in a high humidity area. These are death to rosemary which is almost a desert plant in its water needs. Nor can it tolerate traffic over it (cats, dogs, etc). Rosemary does need yearly pruning so perhaps if you trim it back more to just beyond the 'dying' areas it might help. If possible, try to put sand around the plant base to keep the upper part dry. If it keeps dying back, then take cuttings from any good parts.

http://www.foodreference.com/html/artrosemary.html

[catllar]

thanks for that, I'll prune harder. I guess it could be too much water as we have  had a very wet and long winter here (south of France) When is a good time to take cuttings?

[mrs bouquet]

Mine has curled up its toes as well.  But generally they only do 3/4 years and then they need replacing.   Ours was under matting in a gravel bed, I think it got water logged and drowned. Mrs Bouquet

[Trillium]

Rosemary cuttings are best taken in fall, but you could try some now and see what happens. But keep the cuttings in a shaded area so they're not too stressed as they set roots in their pots.

Best thing for rosemary is to plant it in a mound so that you get water runoff and the roots won't get soggy. Lots of sand incorporated into soil helps a lot too.