Lemon balm
Melissa officinalis
In a typical UK garden, sow indoors late February to late March, sow outside early April to early June, plant out early April to mid-June, and harvest mid-April to late October.
When to sow, plant and harvest
Last frost around 20 April, first frost around 31 October.
- Sow indoors
- late February to late March
- Sow outdoors
- early April to early June
- Plant out
- early April to mid-June
- Harvest
- mid-April to late October
Growing facts
- Spacing
- 45 cm apart, rows 60 cm apart
- Square foot
- 1 per square (30 cm squares)
- Sowing depth
- 0 cm
- Ready in
- 30 to 45 days from planting out
- Grows to
- 60 cm
- Hardiness
- Hardy to about -20 °C
- Sun
- Copes with some shade
- Crops for
- Several years (perennial)
Growing tip
Cut back hard after flowering for a fresh crop of leaves and to stop it self-seeding; divide clumps every few years.
More herbs
Where these figures come from
Every crop in VegLog was checked against published growing advice. Dates are worked out from average frost dates, so they shift with your garden. For lemon balm, we used:
Grow lemon balm with VegLog
Add lemon balm to a bed and VegLog reminds you when to sow, plant out and pick, timed to your own town's frost dates.
