Maintain, overwinter & cut lemon verbena

The care and wintering of lemon verbena require little effort. But you will be rewarded with a rich harvest and years of enjoyment from your plant.

Since then the Lemon verbena (Aloysia citrodora) in the 18th It has come to Europe from South America in the 19th century, and is considered a popular medicinal and aromatic herb. Lemon verbena is mainly grown in France and other southern countries, as it usually does not survive the winter in our field. But with the right care, cultivation can also be successful here. So that you can enjoy your plant for a long time, you will find helpful tips in this article - from cutting the lemon verbena to fertilizing and watering to assessing its winter hardiness.

Maintain lemon verbena

Although it is generally considered to be 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 frosts appear, you should cut back the lemon verbena. Leave two eyes on each shoot. The new shoot mostly takes place at the shoot tips. If the branches were left long, they would remain bare below and new shoots would only grow in the two upper eyes.
If necessary, the lemon bush can also be pruned more heavily for harvest during the season.

Important: If your lemon verbena has to survive light frosts in winter quarters, it is better not to cut it until spring. The cut in autumn could reduce the frost resistance.

Water the lemon bush, fertilize and Co.

The soil should always be kept slightly to moderately moist. Excessive watering of lemon verbena is not recommended, however, since the plant becomes more susceptible to disease if the root ball is permanently saturated with water. Occasionally dry soil does not mind, but a complete drying out of the substrate should be avoided.

Regular fertilization of lemon verbena between April and August promotes lush, bushy growth. Our, for example, is particularly suitable Plantura organic flower and balcony fertilizerwhich is added to the irrigation water approximately every two weeks. It contains a lot of nitrogen, which meets the high needs of lemon verbena. In addition, it is 100% organic and completely animal-free. That means you won't find any blood or bone meal or other animal components in it.

In a suitable substrate and with enough space, lemon verbena can grow very lush. Therefore, the lemon verbena should be repotted in a new pot with fresh soil about every two years. It is time for this at the latest when the entire substrate is rooted and roots are already rising from the susbtrate or growing out of the drainage hole below. Ideally, lemon verbena is repotted in the spring, before the start of the growth phase. Then the plant immediately has enough nutrients and can start the new season strengthened.

Tip: When repotting, the universal soil can be mixed with a granular fertilizer with long-term effects, such as ours Plantura organic universal fertilizerto be mixed up. So you can get by for 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. For this, however, the plant should be watered a little more often.

Hibernate lemon verbena

The lemon verbena is considered to be partially hardy as it can only survive temperatures of around -5 to - 8 ° C. So if you are on the safe side, bring the container or potted plant inside before the first frost. Wintering can be done in two ways.

The easiest way is to cut back the lemon verbena before hibernating, 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 lemon verbena root from colder temperatures. By pruning, you free the plant from its leaves, which it would usually lose anyway, and thus reduce the risk of rot. You also have to water them less often and you can put them in a dark place without hesitation. So you don't need a bright window seat, which can be difficult to find in winter. Nevertheless, you should now and then look for its "verveine odorante" - that's what lemon verbena is called in French - because the earth must not dry out completely.

Alternatively, lemon verbena can also be overwintered warm in the house. It is extremely important to place the lemon bush in a light place, for example a south-facing window or in a winter garden. In addition, with temperatures between 10 and 16 ° C, it should not be too cold. In this way the plant retains its foliage, so that you always have fresh leaves even in winter Harvest and use lemon verbena can.

Can you overwinter lemon verbena outside? In mild winters and in particularly sheltered locations, lemon verbena can also survive the cold season outdoors. It is also possible to overwinter when it is slightly below zero, for example in a garage or in an unheated, closed greenhouse. You can protect the plant from the cold by covering it with leaves, a thick layer of straw, brushwood or a garden fleece. In this case, do not cut the verbena in the fall, but only in the spring.

The lemon verbena sprouts at constant temperatures of around 15 ° C. From March onwards, you can let the plant grow in a moderately heated room. The first tender leaves and shoots should appear after about ten days. If you don't expect any more frost, the lemon verbena can be outside again from mid-May. Intensive watering and fertilization give the plant new vitality and strengthen it for the coming year.

When winter approaches, it is not just the lemon verbena that should be protected from frost and brought into the house. We therefore give further tips on the right one in a separate article Wintering of container plants.