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Lemon verbena

B3B3 Posts: 27,505
edited July 2022 in Plants
I bought one on a whim and I'm not sure what to do with it.
It's growing well since I potted it on a while back but I noticed on the site that clay is not one of the recommended soils.
Should I grow it in a container or plant it out in heavy , slightly acidic clay?
In London. Keen but lazy.
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Posts

  • raisingirlraisingirl Posts: 7,093
    They grow in my clay soil well enough. I have one in a big pot because it's easier to get to it to pick leaves for tea. I take cuttings every year - they strike very easily - because it's not totally hardy so as insurance against a hard winter. And then I end up with more every year, so they're dotted around the garden. Seems pretty adaptable, just needs shelter and not to have wet feet
    Gardening on the edge of Exmoor, in Devon

    “It's still magic even if you know how it's done.” 
  • TopbirdTopbird Posts: 8,355
    I don't think mine would survive our very heavy soil - it would be fine in the summer but probably wouldn't appreciate having cold wet feet in the winter.

    It's in a large pot which I move to a more sheltered spot for winter. In 3 years I've not changed the compost and regularly forget to water it.  A very easy plant for a lazy person like me. 
    Heaven is ... sitting in the garden with a G&T and a cat while watching the sun go down
  • didywdidyw Posts: 3,573
    I have it in a pot outside the back door - south facing.  I keep forgetting about it (even though we walk past it dozens of times a day!) and notice that it is flowering now.  It occasionally gets a water. Never made tea from it.
    Gardening in East Suffolk on dry sandy soil.
  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 30,090
    This is one of the plants Possum wanted for her home-made remedies project.   It's been in a pot for almost 2 years and survived winter outside (-8C was our worst frost I think).   It was slow to restart but is now looking fine so I may just plant it out in a west facing bed down by the ruined barn - fertile, loamy soil and well drained - along with the chamomile but the lemon balm is staying in a pot.
    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
    Plato
  • B3B3 Posts: 27,505
    Take some cuttings and see what they like seems to be the way to go. Thanks everyone. Not as delicate as I feared by the sounds of it.
    In London. Keen but lazy.
  • tui34tui34 Posts: 3,493
    @Obelixx  Mine is outside in a sheltered spot - I prune it right back and dry the leaves, not the flowers.  I don't protect it and we can have -6°C some days in the winter.   Makes the most delicious herbal tea and the smell is divine.

    The best is the liqueur - quite potent but you can't buy pure alcohol anymore in 1 litre containers.  Bit sugary like limoncello - but delicious frappé with some ice!
    A good hoeing is worth two waterings.

  • RedwingRedwing Posts: 1,511
    I've had one for about five years growing in a pot.  I thought it wasn't hardy so I bring the pot into a cold greenhouse for the winter.  It dies back completely  but soon grows again in spring.  Makes great tea and smells wonderful.  I don't think it would survive outside in my heavy clay soil.
    Based in Sussex, I garden to encourage as many birds to my garden as possible.
  • LindzHLindzH Posts: 37
    I love my lemon verbena, I have one in a Belfast sink which is quite open to elements so put a good layer on top in winter and other in a smaller pot nearer the house, that I wrap up over winter. I too haven't risked the clay soil. 
    Tried to take cuttings but they always fail so would like to know how @raisingirl manages it. 
  • LG_LG_ Posts: 4,360
    I was under the impression that it is much more tender than the evidence on this thread reveals. I'm delighted to know that I can stop mollycoddling mine to the extent that I have been. 
    'If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.'
    - Cicero
  • B3B3 Posts: 27,505
    A bit risky😳
    In London. Keen but lazy.
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