can i save my rosemary?

Our rosemary was getting big and straggely last year so I cut it back. A few weeks ago I dug it up to replant in another location and It seems to have moved OK. As a bonus a bit came away with a decent root on it so I now have a spare plant.
Rosemary seems to be a pretty tough brute.

Funny, but in my experience it doesn't like being pruned hard back. I cut one back here when we arrived becos it was in a very inconvenient spot for us, and it gave up the ghost.
Then again, I suppose I may have cut it at a bad time of year re frosts etc or just not waited long enough for it to sprout. They are very ungainly when straggly, I agree with you.

You will be much better off if you take some cuttings and pot them up for later bushes, they root really easily and I like to choose cuttings with one main stem and train them as 'balls' it takes a bit of time of course but are really worth the effort.
Queenie

I agree with Queenie. Rosmary, like lavenders, tends to get very straggley and isn't a very long-lived plant. However, it makes up for this by being incredibly easy to root. I literally just pull short segments off downwards so they have a bit of a 'heel' and push them straight into the ground. If you do this in the spring with about 10 pieces, I would expect most to root and the whole exercise taken about 2 minutes. You could also try moving the old one as well, but at least you'll have a back up if it doesn't recover.

Thanks for this advice folks, I've just bought a Rosemary, so will know what to do! Roughly how many years should I expect the plant to live?

many thanks i will take plenty of cuttings before i move the plants!

i tend to have each one for 5 years. i then take cuttings for insurance and prune the big one back. over the 20 yrs 2 have lived 3 havent after pruning. the one i pruned last is definitely dead but 3 cuttings are doing well.

One thing you can do is to dig it up and replant it very much deeper filling in with loose gritty soil . It willl root several of the branches by the autumn and you can lift them or just enjoy a much tighter shrub.. Take some cuttings too, just in case

My rosemary got delivered today! Forgot just how lovely they smell! Can't wait to get it in the garden!