Growing Lemon Balm

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Lemon balm leaves have a strong lemony scent.

When you rub lemon balm leaves between your fingers, you'll smell a strong lemon scent. Some gardeners plant it by a gate to smell it each time the gate brushes against the leaves as it opens and closes.

The green leaves of lemon balm have the scent of lemon with a hint of mint. In fact, the foliage of lemon balm looks like oversized mint. Lemon balm grows 20 to 24 inches tall and makes a nice green clump of medium-textured leaves among the other herbs and flowers in your garden. The plant looks best when it is cut back periodically, so plan to use lots of fresh, flavorful leaves to brew tea, flavor a fruit or green salad, and season fish. Be sure to include stems in bouquets of summer flowers.

Perennial lemon balm comes back in spring.

In places where lemon balm is perennial, the new leaves will peep out of the ground in spring

After all danger of frost has past, set lemon balm in rich soil where it will receive full sun to partial shade. Gardeners in zone 8 will find that lemon balm enjoys a little afternoon break from the hot summer sun. In zones 9 and 10, even more shade is helpful. In addition, lemon balm will remain green during mild winters, such as those in zones 9 and 10. Lemon balm responds well to cutting, growing back twice as thick. Whenever your plant is looking tired due to drought, hail, insects, or other stress, just cut it back and let it rejuvenate itself with fresh, new growth.Lemon balm likes rich, moist, but well-drained soil with a pH of 6 to 7. Because it is harvested continually for lots of leaves, it needs a little fertilizer. When planting, add a coated, slow-release fertilizer such as 19-19-19 at the rate recommended on the label, or work plenty of organic nutrients from compost, blood meal, or cottonseed meal into the soil.

Lemon balm blooms late in the season, which makes the plant look tired. Snip tips often to discourage flowering.

Lemon balm in will bloom toward the end of the season. Plants look tired when this happens, but if you snip the growing tips regularly to enjoy the leaves, flowers will hardly have a chance to form.

Lemon balm does not spread by underground runners like mint. It will increase in size, making a bigger clump in the garden each season and sprouting from seeds that develop from inconspicuous flowers. To keep it from taking up too much of your garden, cut the plant back to a few inches tall several times during the growing season. This will keep the plant bushy and healthy-looking while preventing seeds from ripening. The flowers of lemon balm are not necessarily showy, but they will produce viable seeds that will germinate in your garden. Mulch will help prevent the fallen seeds from germinating, and it will slowly decay, feeding the soil with the rich organic matter that this plant needs.

Use scissors to snip lemon balm leaves.

Snip fresh lemon balm to use in teas or chicken and fish dishes.

Lemon balm loses much of its flavor when dried, so it is a seasonal delight to be enjoyed while the weather is mild and the plant is green. The fragrance remains sufficiently to warrant its use in potpourri.

Like many other herbs, lemon balm can lose its flavor in cooking, so add it near the end of the cooking process to both chicken and fish dishes. The fresh lemon fragrance is also nice with fruit and fruit juice drinks. Create your own herbal tea by cutting a few stems of lemon balm and any other appealing herbs, putting them in a pitcher, pour boiling water over them, and allow them to steep for about 15 minutes. Enjoy your tea hot or over ice.

Can I grow lemon balm in a pot?

Yes, lemon balm is one of the easiest herbs to grow. It will flourish in a pot with rich, well-drained potting mix. Pots must be watered often, daily in the heat of summer. Frequent watering washes many nutrients out of the pot. Use a timed-release fertilizer or a liquid fertilizer occasionally when you water. The fertilizer label gives a recommendation about how often to apply.

I hear about plants that are lemon flavored. How does that happen?

There are actually quite a few herbs with a lemon fragrance. How or why they have developed is a mystery. We do know that in times when lemons were not readily available in areas without hardy citrus, these plants added much to daily life. Lemon-flavored herbs include lemon balm, lemon basil, and lemon thyme.

My lemon balm looks pale and sick even after I fertilized it. What is going on?

Perhaps it is in too much sun. Most herbs like a lot of sun, but lemon balm is the exception. In areas where the summer sun is hot, it grows best with some shade in the afternoon or in a spot where there are tall trees to lessen the intensity of the sun.

How can I keep lemon balm from taking over my garden?

Lemon balm will not take over like mint does, sending runners through the soil in all directions. The clump will gradually grow wider. However, it will reseed in the garden. Pull up the seedlings around your mother plant. Then mulch around the plant to prevent re-seeding. Frequent cutting will also keep lemon balm from ever blooming and developing mature seeds.

13 thoughts on “Growing Lemon Balm”

  1. How can you differentiate between a catnip and a lemon balm? I have one of them growing in my garden but really don’t know which of them.
    I appreciate your clarification.
    Many thanks
    Adam

    • Hello Adam,
      Easiest way is to smell….pinch off and rub with your fingers. Lemon balm unmistakably smells like lemons! – danielle, Bonnie Plants

  2. Lemon oil may be used in aromatherapy. Researchers at The Ohio State University found that lemon oil aroma does not influence the human immune system, but may enhance mood.

  3. HI! I just bought a beautiful Lemon Balm, my first one. I’ve loved the smell of these for years and finally was able to buy one. Not only does it smell great, but looks pretty in it’s purple pot haha! It looked pretty thick so I did cut back a few leaves, but I’ve no recipe for them! Anyone have a good tea recipe??

    • Hello Sereniti,
      One of my favorites…lemon grass, lemon mint, lemon thyme, and lemon balm. Herbal teas are great. Food.com has an herbal tea recipe with lemon balm. When you make something wonderful, be sure and post it to the Bonnie Plant facebook page.
      -Danielle, Bonnie Plants

      • I just tried the lemon balm and peppermint tea on that site! YUMMY! Thank you so much!

    • I have a great recipe~ for lemon balm tea, take a few leave of Lemon Balm tea, place in a cup with a little lemon & a cinnamon twig for nice afternoon tea. Lemon Balm is a relaxing herb, so sit with a good book.

      Another recipe is to take Lemon Balm, Chocolate Mint ( a real herb), make an iced tea then add cream & sugar~ hmmm~~~

  4. I just bought my first Lemon Balm herb plant ant it is from your growers, I can’t wait to try it out! I also bought several other herbs that are yours as well! I am looking forward to having fresh herbs now and learning new uses for them! Thanks for the information on your site as I have never grown anything and my husband can’t wait to see how this turns out, he takes care if the other plants in the house…I kind of am notorious for having a brown thumb! LOL! So, every time I go check on the herbs, he goes out after me…he’s afraid I am going to kill them and the tomatoes I am attempting to grow! We live in SWFL. No faith! Cross my fingers! I retired early, I am 40 so this is my new hobby, I told him that since all I have to do is keep an eye on the 3 labs we have and the plants, how hard could it be? That’s when he started laughing at me! I have been doing my homework on your site! Thanks! Without it, I wouldn’t know what I was doing!
    Sincerely,
    Crystal

    • Hi Crystal,
      I love to grow herbs as much as I love to grow vegetables. Try some of these recipes using your fresh herbs if you want to show your husband a thing or two!
      -Danielle, Bonnie Plants

  6. Thanks so much for the info. I’m growing lemon balm inside and I’ve cut it back to see what happens. It’s been about two
    weeks now. I may have let the pot dry out too much.

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