Kitchen Garden Forum

Dear Wellie,
I just prune off the dead when it has started back into growth and any dangly bits to neaten the shape. Nothing to it really.
Regards Sally Wright.

Thanks all for the advice. Will wrap up my plant and take a few cuttings as an insurance policy.

Sue

Hi Sally,
I think that some tender plants eventually become accustomed to the climatic conditions.
An example of this is the Tree Ferns that are now imported. When they are first planted they are exceedingly tender but after about 5 years they are not bothered too much with the winter conditions prevailing around here. This I presume is what has occurred with your Lemon Verbena.
JB.

Lemon verbena makes a lovely herb tea or tisane. Put about ten leaves in a mug, cover with boiling water and let it brew for about eight minutes, then strain into another mug (or better still, use a herb tea mug with built in strainer). It's refreshing and calming.
Monika

I use my lemon verbena mixed with lemon balm, both finely chopped and added to carrots. Do add some butter as well. Gorgeous.

All this takes me back to my newly wedded days. We visited the Abbotsbury gardens and the old gardeners there were propogating lemon verbena to make a bit of cash. I bought one and put it in the garden, not a hope of survival, I didn't know then what I know now. Now with plenty of space under glass it's time to have another go at it. With passiflora incarnata behaving as a weed, lemon verbena should survive.

Sue wrote:Anyone got any tips on overwintering this. Have got a plant in a pot and have moved it into a cold greenhouse for the winter. Is this enough?

Thanks

Sue

I have a verbena and I have had it outside in the winter now for about six years, after the first year I thought i had lost it but it came through for me, however it has taken a toll on it and it is now sort of bonsia but I assume very hardy after wintering for six yers in devon. I love the leaves to smell and also to make a really refreshing tea.

Could you overwinter it in a conservatory? In fact, could you use it as a conservatory plant all year round?

We grow one all year round in a tub in a polytunnel. We have a few herbs in tubs that are on the outside edges during the Summer and nearer the middle that is a little warmer in Winter. I think a conservatory would be fine. When the leaves drop I trim it back a bit and it looks dead all Winter then comes back to life in the Spring.

Geoff's polytunnel is obviously warmer than our unheated greenhouse because we lost our only lemon verbena plant two winters ago in the greenhouse, so it is not fully hardy. But a conservatory sounds fine to me, merlin.

I'm a bit concerned it'll be too hot in summer. Its south facing. I'm in a wheelchair with restricted mobility so i'm trying to create a low maintenance garden where i can leave things without having to replant or relocate things throughout the year. Hence I'd like to find somewhere i can leave the lemon verbena where it will survive year to year. The conservatory would be great if it works as the smell would be wonderful.

I overwintered my lemon verbena last year without any effort at all. I actually thought it died but I kept the pot outdoors. This year it just started growing again in the late spring.

It has nothing to do with overwintering but I found that during spring when it starts growing, you can cut the stems just above a pair of leaves and it will likely split up into two stems where you cut it. This way you get even more lemon verbena on one plant.

Dear Wellie,
my lemon verbena has several stems arising at the ground level. I will take out one or two completely to the ground and tidy the rest of the plant to keep it from overhanging the path too much. The same way you would with a forsythia or philadelphus after they have flowered BUT do this to your LV after it has come into leaf around the middle of May.
Regards Sally Wright.

merlin777 wrote:I'm a bit concerned it'll be too hot in summer. Its south facing. I'm in a wheelchair with restricted mobility so i'm trying to create a low maintenance garden where i can leave things without having to replant or relocate things throughout the year. Hence I'd like to find somewhere i can leave the lemon verbena where it will survive year to year. The conservatory would be great if it works as the smell would be wonderful.

you dont think it would be too hot?