Growing Lemon Balm Organically

Organic Lemon Balm Growing Guide

 Why Grow Lemon Balm?

 Lemon Balm (Melissa officinalis) is a wonderfully fragrant herb from the mint family, and it's one of those plants that can make you stop in the garden just to enjoy it.

 It has beautiful lemon-scented leaves, and one of my favourite things about growing Lemon Balm is simply brushing my fingers over the leaves and smelling them.

 I always have to give the leaves a little rub when I'm in the garden! 🌿

It's a useful herb to have around, too. The fresh leaves can be used in drinks, salads and a variety of sweet and savoury dishes, while the flowers are loved by bees and other pollinators.

And because Lemon Balm is a hardy perennial, once you've got it established, you can enjoy it year after year.

Where to Grow Lemon Balm

Lemon Balm is a fairly easy-going herb and can grow in partial shade through to full sun.Choose a position with reasonably well-drained soil where it has room to grow.

It can be grown:

🌿 In herb beds

🌱 In raised beds

🪴 In containers

🌻 Among other plants

☀️ In sunny or partially shaded areas

If you're growing in containers, make sure your pot has good drainage.

 Growing Lemon Balm in Containers

Lemon Balm can be grown successfully in pots, making it a useful choice if you don't have a large garden.

 Growing it in a container can also make it easier to keep an eye on its growth.And there is something lovely about having a pot of Lemon Balm somewhere you can easily reach so you can grab a few leaves whenever you need them. Just give the leaves a little rub as you walk past. 

Trust me — you'll probably do it every time.

Growing Lemon Balm:

Lemon Balm is considered an easy-to-grow perennial herb, so it's a lovely choice for beginner gardeners. It prefers reasonably well-drained soil and will grow in partial to full sunlight.

 Once established, it can become a good-sized plant, so give it enough room to spread. If you're growing it alongside other herbs, keep an eye on its size and give it a tidy when needed.

Caring for Lemon Balm.

 Keep young plants watered while they are becoming established. Once established, Lemon Balm is relatively straightforward to care for.

As with many herbs, avoid leaving the roots sitting in constantly waterlogged soil.

If your Lemon Balm is growing in a container, keep an eye on it during warm, dry weather as containers can dry out much more quickly than garden soil.

 Harvesting Lemon Balm: 

The lovely lemon-scented leaves can be harvested as needed throughout the growing season.

 Simply pick or snip off the leaves you need. For me, this is one of the joys of growing herbs.

 You don't need to harvest a huge amount. You can simply walk into the garden, pick a few fresh leaves and take them straight into the kitchen.

Fresh from the Yarden and into the cup or recipe. 

 Lemon Balm Flowers & Pollinators:

 Don't forget to let your Lemon Balm flower. It produces small white to pale pink flowers, which can attract bees and other pollinators. 

This makes Lemon Balm a lovely addition to an organic garden because it isn't only useful to us.

 You're growing something that can also provide food for your garden visitors. I love plants that do more than one job.

Herb for us + flowers for the bees = garden win. 🐝

 Lemon Balm in the Garden

Apart from being useful in the kitchen, Lemon Balm brings another lovely quality to the garden — its fragrance. The leaves have that gorgeous fresh lemon scent, and it is particularly noticeable when you brush or crush the leaves. This is one of the reasons I love growing it. 

Sometimes gardening isn't about harvesting something. Sometimes it's simply about walking through the garden, touching a plant and thinking: “Oh, that smells amazing!”  And Lemon Balm definitely gives you that.

 Using Lemon Balm in the Kitchen:

 Lemon Balm can be used in both sweet and savoury recipes.

Try adding fresh leaves to:

🥗 Salads

🍰 Desserts

🍓 Fruit dishes

🥕 Vegetable dishes

🥤 Cold drinks

🍋 Homemade drinks

🌿 Herbal infusions

You can also use fresh or dried leaves to make a simple herbal tea.

Its fresh lemony flavour makes it particularly lovely when you're looking for something light and refreshing.

 Lemon Balm Tea

Fresh or dried Lemon Balm leaves can be infused in hot water to make a fragrant herbal drink.

You can also combine it with other herbs, such as mint or chamomile, to create different flavour combinations.

A little safety note: If you're thinking about using Lemon Balm as an herbal tea or for its traditional herbal uses, check with your doctor or pharmacist first if you take medication or are pregnant, as herbs can interact with medicines and aren't automatically suitable for everyone.

The information on this page is about growing and using Lemon Balm as a food/herb and isn't medical advice.

 Lemon Balm & Organic Gardening

Lemon Balm is a lovely plant for an organic garden because it's:

🌿 Easy to grow

🌸 A perennial

🐝 Attractive to pollinators

🪴 Suitable for containers

🍋 Fragrant

🥗 Useful in the kitchen

It fits beautifully into a garden where we're trying to grow things that are useful for us and for wildlife.

 Why I Love Growing Lemon Balm. 

Of all the reasons to grow Lemon Balm, the smell might just be my favourite.

 I love walking around the Organic Yarden and giving the leaves a little rub between my fingers.

 That fresh lemony fragrance instantly tells me I'm in the garden.

It's easy to grow, comes back year after year, gives us lovely, fragrant leaves, can be used in the kitchen, and produces flowers that our little garden visitors can enjoy, too. What's not to love? 🌿🍋🐝

 Explore More Organic Herb Guides

🌱 Explore all our Organic Herb Growing Guides → HERE

🌿 Read our Organic Oregano Growing Guide → HERE 

🌿 Read our Organic Coriander Growing Guide → HERE

🥕 Explore our Vegetable Growing Guides → HERE

🥗 Visit Our Little Vegan Kitchen → HERE