How to Prune Lemon Verbena
Once you taste the clean flavor of lemon verbena--reminiscent of sage, honey and lemon blended together--there's a good chance you will want to grow your own. Purchase a small lemon verbena plant from a nursery or farmers' market, as it is difficult to start from seed. Like rosemary, the individual leaves of the lemon verbena plant are too fibrous to be eaten enjoyably, but they do provide a magnificent flavor to when prepared in teas, cakes and savory dishes. Lemon verbena leaves can be substituted for lemon zest or lemon balm in nearly any recipe. Does this Spark an idea?
Other People Are Reading
Instructions
-
-
1
Inspect your lemon verbena plant for stalks that are old, damaged or dying. Remove these, for the sake of the plant's health.
-
2
Check for leggy stems that should be pruned back. To encourage new growth, cut all stems back midway through the summer and again in the fall before you bring the plant inside for the winter.
-
-
3
Use your scissors to snip through the stems you wish to cut. The cuttings can be placed in a vase with water to propagate a new plant, or dried for future use.
-
4
Water the plant and place container in the sun. Lemon verbena requires at least 6 hours of sun a day to thrive and does not tolerate frost temperatures.
-
5
Cut back all stems to 3 inches with your scissors in the late fall. Lemon verbena goes dormant in the winter and all growth should be trimmed back.
-
6
Separate the good leaves and stems from the hard woody stalks. The woody stalks can be used as aromatherapy and the green leaves can be used fresh or dried.
-
1
Tips & Warnings
Lemon verbena should be grown in containers and moved inside for the winter unless you live in a subtropical area.
