How To Revitalise Leggy Herbs

How To Revitalise Leggy Herbs

Leggy herbs produce few edible leaves so cut back for new tasty growth

Towards the end of summer herbs can become leggy and produce very little in the way of edible leaves.

 

 You will need:

  • scissors or secateurs

Many of them, such as: thyme, oregano, mint and sage can be cut back now to about 2.5cm (1”), this will encourage new leafy growth from the base which will last into the autumn. You will be able to see where to cut back to as most of them will have started to put up new growth from the base.

Lavender should be cut back as soon as it has finished flowering. This is really easy, just gather up all the flower stems and cut back about by about a third to a half. This helps keep the plant compact; if left it will become leggy and woody and not have as long a life span.

Don’t fertilise the herbs at this time of year as they will put on a lot of soft, lush growth which won’t stand up to the frost in winter.

For more information on growing herbs and vegetables browse our blog articles or watch the videos on our Youtube channel.

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Angela Slater

Daughter of a farmer and market gardener so have always had a connection with the outdoors, whether it was keeping animals or producing fruit, vegetables and cut flowers. Along with my work at Hayes Garden World I also have a smallholding, mainly breeding rare breed pigs. I gained an HND and BSc in Conservation and Environmental Land Management, as a result I am an ardent environmentalist and have a keen interest in environmentally friendly gardening. In my time at Hayes I worked for several years in the Outdoor Plant and Houseplant areas.