How To Plant Sagebrush

Sagebrush shrubs are easy to grow and maintain when planted properly.

Sagebrush shrubs are easy to grow and maintain when planted properly.

While you can plant virtually any type of plant in your garden, the enjoyability factor decreases when you have to spend all your free time tending to high-maintenance plants. If your area has a hot, dry climate, the best plant options are drought-tolerant plants that look healthy without frequent watering. Sagebrush (Artemisia spp.), a genus of drought-tolerant plants grown in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 4 through 9, works well for a low-maintenance rock garden or desert garden. Try Great Basin sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata) -- also called big sagebrush -- a popular species known for its blue-gray to blue-green foliage.


Loosen the soil in the planting area to a depth of about 12 inches, using a rototiller or hand digging tools. Select a site that receives full sun or at least six hours of direct sunlight daily.


Mix organic humus materials, such as compost, manure and leaf mold, as well as coarse sand or small gravel, with the native soil if the soil has poor drainage. The plants do best in loam, sandy loam and rocky soils, so amendments are especially necessary if you have clay soil.


Dig a hole for the sagebrush plant to a depth equal to the container height and two to three times the width of the container. If you wish to plant multiple sagebrush plants, space each plant 3 to 5 feet apart to allow enough room for plants to reach their mature size. Plants generally look best in groups with an odd number of plants, so you might choose to plant three plants in a triangle formation.


Remove the sagebrush from the nursery container; if the container is plastic, you can slit the sides with a knife for easy removal. Clip any dark-colored or mushy roots with a pair of hand pruners or scissors. Loosen the roots around the outside of the root ball so they can spread more easily into the native soil.


Set the plant in the hole so the top of the root ball rests even with the surrounding soil. Fill in the hole with the amended soil, pack the soil gently to remove air pockets, and add more soil, if needed, to bring the soil level back up to grade with the surrounding soil.


Add a 3- to 4-inch layer of mulch around the sagebrush plants, but do not push the mulch directly against the stems. Mulch suppresses weed growth and retains moisture in the soil so the plants can survive for longer periods without rainfall or supplemental irrigation. Instead of common organic mulches such as shredded bark mulch, you can mulch with pea gravel or lava rock, but these inorganic mulches do not retain moisture. Instead, inorganic mulches actually absorb heat so the soil dries out faster.


Water the plant deeply so the entire root ball is evenly moist. Add more soil if watering lowers the soil level. Water generously once weekly for the first few months after planting until the roots establish themselves in the soil; allow the top 2 to 3 inches of soil to dry before watering to avoid root rot. After the sagebrush plants become established, they need only water occasionally during long periods of summer drought.


Fertilize with a complete water-soluble fertilizer, such as 10-10-10, added to the water supply about once monthly, if desired. Sagebrush doesn't require fertilization, but you can add fertilizer to boost plant growth.

Things You Will Need

  • Rototiller or hand digging tools
  • Humus materials
  • Coarse sand or small gravel
  • Hand pruners or scissors
  • Organic or inorganic mulch
  • 10-10-10 water-soluble fertilizer


  • Sagebrush plants do not require soil testing because they adapt to a wide range of soil pH levels. Their main soil need is for well-drained soil.

Photo Credits

  • Comstock Images/Comstock/Getty Images
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