The care and overwintering of lemon verbena requires little effort. But you will be rewarded with a bountiful harvest and many years of enjoyment from your plant.
Since the lemon verbena (Aloysia citrodora) came to Europe from South America in the 18th century, it has been considered a popular medicinal and aromatic herb. Lemon verbena is mainly cultivated in France and other southern countries, as it usually does not survive the winter outdoors in our country. But with the right care, cultivation can also be successful here. In this article you will find helpful tips so that you can enjoy your plant for a long time - from pruning the lemon verbena to fertilizing and watering to assessing its winter hardiness.
Caring for Lemon Verbena
Although it is generally considered undemanding, you should pay attention to a few aspects when caring for the lemon bush in order to enjoy it for as long as possible.
Cut Lemon Verbena
In autumn, before the first frost is announced, you should cut back the lemon verbena. Leave two eyes on each shoot. New growth usually occurs at the tips of the shoots. If the branches were left long, they would remain bare at the bottom and new shoots would only grow at the top two eyes.
The lemon bush can also be pruned more vigorously during the season if necessary for the harvest.
Important: If your lemon verbena has to survive light frosts in winter quarters, it is better to wait until spring to prune. Fall pruning could reduce frost hardiness.
Water the lemon bush, fertilize and Co.
The soil should always be kept slightly to moderately moist. However, excessive watering of lemon verbena is not recommended, as the plant becomes more susceptible to disease if the root ball is permanently saturated with water. Occasionally dry soil doesn't bother her, but a complete drying out of the substrate should be avoided.
Regular fertilizing of lemon verbena between April and August promotes lush, bushy growth. For example, our Plantura organic flower and balcony fertilizer, which is added to the irrigation water about every two weeks, is particularly suitable. It contains a lot of nitrogen, which meets the high requirements of lemon verbena. It's also 100% organic and completely animal-free. That means you won't find any blood, bone meal or other animal components in it.
In a suitable substrate and with enough space, lemon verbena can grow very luxuriantly. Therefore, repotting the lemon verbena into a new pot with fresh soil should be done about every two years. It is time for this at the latest when the entire substrate is rooted and roots are already lifting out of the substrate or growing out of the drainage hole at the bottom. Ideally, lemon verbena should be repotted in spring, before the start of the growth phase. Then the plant has enough nutrients and can start the new season stronger.
Tip: When repotting, the universal soil can be mixed with a granular fertilizer with a long-term effect, such as our Plantura organic universal fertilizer. In this way you can manage the entire following year without additional fertilization. In addition, expanded clay can be added to older plants for more structural stability. It means that the verbena has to be repotted less often. However, the plant should be watered a little more frequently for this.
Winter lemon verbena
The lemon verbena is considered conditionally hardy, as it only survives temperatures of around - 5 to - 8 °C. So if you want to be on the safe side, bring the tub or potted plant inside before the first frost. Hibernation can be done in two ways.
It is easiest to prune lemon verbena before wintering, as described above. It can then be overwintered in a dark and cool place at around 5 °C, for example in a garage or shed. If necessary, the pot can also be wrapped in a jute sack to protect the rootstock of the lemon verbena from colder temperatures. By pruning, you rid the plant of its leaves, which it would most likely lose anyway, thus reducing the risk of rot. In addition, you don't have to water them as often and you can put them in a dark place without hesitation. So she doesn't need a bright window seat, which can be hard to find in winter. Nevertheless, one should check his "verveine odorante" - as the lemon verbena is called in French - from time to time, since the earth does notallowed to dry out completely.
Alternatively, lemon verbena can also be kept warm indoors over the winter. It is extremely important to place the lemon bush in a bright place, for example on a south-facing window or in a conservatory. In addition, it should not be too cold with temperatures between 10 and 16°C. In this way, the plant keeps its leaves, so that you can always harvest and use fresh leaves of the lemon verbena even in winter.
Can you overwinter lemon verbena outside? In mild winters and in particularly sheltered locations, lemon verbena can also survive the cold season outdoors. Overwintering at slightly below zero, for example in a garage or in an unheated, closed greenhouse, is possible. You can additionally protect the plant from the cold by covering it with leaves, a thick layer of straw, brushwood or garden fleece. In this case, do not prune the verbena in the fall, but only in the spring.
The lemon verbena sprout again at constant temperatures of around 15 °C. From March onwards, the plant can therefore be left to grow in a moderately heated room. After about ten days, the first tender leaves and shoots should appear. If no more frost is expected, the lemon verbena can go outside again from mid-May. Intensive watering and fertilizing give the plant new vitality and strengthen it for the coming year.
When winter approaches, not only the lemon verbena should be protected from frost and brought indoors. In a separate article, we are therefore giving more tips on how to overwinter potted plants correctly.