Newsletter: 26th October
Jekka's tips when preparing your herb garden for winter
It is a busy time in the garden preparing our herbs for the cold months ahead. Following on from our last newsletter, Looking after your Herbs in Autumn, there are two herbs, Lemon Verbena and Mint, that we are always asked about in autumn so here are our top tips:
Lemon Verbena (Aloysia citrodora)
Lemon Verbena is originally from South America so it does not like our frosts or damp winter weather. Jekka's top tip is to make sure you bring the plant under shelter or next to your house through the winter.
Lemon Verbena is a deciduous shrub and has already started to drop its leaves. Please do not be tempted to cut back the plant at this time of year as the cuts will not heal and the damp can get into the branches and you may lose your plant. We cut back our plants in the spring when all signs of frost have past.
Want to know more? Watch Jekka pruning Lemon Verbena in Spring, click the link below.
Lemon Verbena (Aloysia citrodora)
Mint spreads by producing creeping rhizomes, which is why it’s often best grown in pots. However, if left pot-bound, these rhizomes can wrap tightly around the inside of the container, creating a gap between the root ball and the pot’s edge. This gap allows water to collect and may lead to root rot. To keep your mint healthy, Jekka's top tip is to repot or divide it each autumn, making sure the rhizomes are positioned in the centre of the pot. These white, fleshy rhizomes are the source of next year’s vigorous new growth.
Want to know more? We’ve created a series of videos to guide you through caring for your mint, including one with Jekka and Nathan Outlaw showing how we grow mint for harvesting through the winter. Click on the link below.
Dividing Mint
More of Jekka's top winter care tips:
We recommend not cutting back the following herbs till the spring and all threat of frosts has past. Leaving the old growth on your plants over winter can protect the young shoots of Herbaceous plants from frost when they re-emerge in the spring.
- Nepetas, including both Catmint and Catnip
- Creeping Savory
Want to know more? Watch Jekka's videos on pruning through the link below.
Jekka's Herb Seeds
 |
We are proud to have over 140 different varieties of herb seeds available to buy online and in our subscriptions. Many of our seeds are harvested from Jekka's Herbetum and Jekka's Herb Garden. The seeds are hand-packed at the Herb Farm into our illustrated seed packets, with Jekka's growing instructions on the back. Perfect for Christmas - Join Jekka's Seed Club. |
On the 9th November, in our next newsletter, we will be publishing our 2026 Spring Master Classes.
We are launching a new and updated series of master classes which we are excited to share with you and will cover the growing and use of herbs.
Jekka's Master Classes - the perfect gift for any herb lover this Christmas!
Cultivating flavour, creating experiences.