Deadwood On Rosemary

This is common for rosemary that have some age, especially if its never been pruned; the “inner” growth gets shaded out by the newer growth and doesn’t receive enough sunlight so it begins to drop its leaves in the inner part of the shrub, only growing leaves and new growth on the mid to upper branches. You can prune this shrub back and it will rejuvinate to some extent, however avoid pruning back (cutting the stems) of the oldest, thickest stems as this will not likely produce new growth. You can cut the shrub back to almost half the length of the thinner, middle to upper stems. (Its ok to prune back the stems that originate from the older, thicker stems, just don’t cut the old/thick stems). Pruning should be done now (ideally in early spring in your area), before any more hot temps and dry air come to your area. Make sure the plant is watered well before pruning so it won’t struggle to produce new growth. However, rosemary are fairly drought tolerant and should not be watered too frequently. It could also be that this plant is not getting enough water to allow it to maintain the growth of the middle inner branches, so make sure it does get watered once a month or so, and watered deeply (rather than just shallow penetration of water).