Is this Rosemary plant salvageable?

[ElyElyOy]

In my very small garden there is a very small herb container. Inside there is a giant Rosemary plant (part Triffid, part Rosemary). Am I better off digging it up and replacing it, or will it be ok to chop it back?

This is it :)

I have one in a large pot that I neglected for years ☹️. It was far worse than yours. I trimmed it and cut off dead bits. It now has an interesting twisted stem form with the green bits towards the top and sides. It’s flowering at the moment.
They’re pretty indestructible.

You can chop it back, maybe leaving a little bit of green on top, and you could root some cuttings as insurance, they should root quite easily.

If you are ok with getting rid of it, then you've nothing to lose by pruning it back and waiting to see how it grows over the warmer months. Unless you want that space back before then. Like lavender, it needs a good prune at least once a year to stop it going woody like that.

If you are planning on using it for culinary purposes, you would be better taking some cuttings to root. Then set up a cycle of cuttings every three years so you always have young plants for kitchen use.

I inherited one when we moved house that had been in a tiny pot for years, and was basically 6 stems 3 feet high. I chopped it right back and stuck it in a sunny flowerbed last summer and it's easily 8 times the size it was.

Ah wonderful thank you. I will chop a few bits off and try and grow a new one (or two) and give the main plant a good chopping. I know they aren’t that expensive to buy, but I thought if it saved me a plant it was worth trying. Thank you :)

They branches will often die back if you cut back too far into the brown wood, it is safer to leave some greenery on the branch.

Ah brilliant thank you, I plan on giving it a good haircut this weekend so will certainly leave some green