Growing lemon balm, Melissa officinalis L, is – like most mints — a perennial herb that’s easy to grow and easy to spread! We’ll cover here growing lemon balm in containers and in the ground, and a few reasons why you’ll want to!
Melissa is Greek for honeybee, likely so named for the tiny white flowers — sometimes with a hint or yellow or pink — that are pollinator magnets throughout the summer.
But first…
What is Lemon Balm?
This garden balm is a lemon scented herb that’s a perennial mint popular amongst herbal enthusiasts for its many health benefits, as well as with cooks and chefs around the world for its many culinary uses.
If you’re not quite sure how to grow, harvest, and enjoy this hardy and prolific herb with a mint and lemony scent, don’t worry, it’s easy growing and we’ll cover that here.
With a little time, a sunny spot for an ample dose of direct sunlight, and a little patience, this powerhouse of herbal goodness can be available to you in abundance.
A citrusy member of the mint family, lemon balm originated in the Mediterranean, North Africa, and parts of the Middle East. Now naturalized around the globe, lemon balm is widely accepted in modern culture and gardens as a beneficial herb plant.
What is the Lemon Balm Hardiness Zone?
Most sellers cite Lemon Balm USDA Hardiness Zone as 4-9, although the North Carolina Extension Service lists it as 3a-7a.[1]https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/melissa-officinalis/
Growing lemon balm is not difficult for even the novice gardener. Take a few moments today to learn about growing lemon balm from seed, cuttings and seedlings, and you’ll have a new peppy plant friend for years to come.
Melissa Officinalis L. – Lemon Balm Common Names
The common names for lemon balm are listed alphabetically, with the most common names bolded.
- Balm
- Balm mint
- Bee balm
- Blue balm
- Common balm
- Cure-all
- Dropsy plant
- Garden balm
- Honey plant
- Lemon Balm
- Melissa
- Melissa folium
- Melissa officinalis
- Mint balm
- Sweet balm
- Sweet Mary
There are many common names for lemon balm, including blue balm, cure-all, garden balm, and balm gentle just to name a few.
Is Lemon Balm Invasive?
Yes! Like other mints, this sweet balm is invasive and can take over a garden plot through the rhizomes and seeds. However, there are a couple ways to avoid the lemon balm invasion.
How to Keep Lemon Balm Mint From Spreading
- Clip the blossoms before they go to seed
- Grow lemon balm in pots
We’ve been growing lemon balm in the garden in pots for years now. We haven’t clipped blossoms and it has never spread. However, we’ve had very few to no blossoms!
Perhaps it’s because ours are in partial shade. So if you grow yours in containers, if they flower, clip them before they go to seed. The clipped blossoms are edible flowers, so you can toss them into salads for a hint of lemon and a pretty visual addition.
If you wish to continue year round access to fresh green leaves, or just for the bit of citrusy fragrance inside, you can bring your potted plants indoors before first frost for best results. Prune them first to remove all the old and dead stems and to freshen them up for their new indoor growing season.
Lemon Balm Benefits
These are just a few reasons for growing this wonderful plant.
DISCLAIMER: This is informational, not prescriptive. It is advisable to consult with your healthcare professional for treatment recommendations.
- Alzheimer’s
- Antioxidants
- Anti-thyroidal –
- Graves disease[2]https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8090196/
- hyperthyroid (NOT hypothyroid)
- Antiviral properties
- Anxiety
- Calming
- Cognitive function
- Cold sores
- Digestive relief
- Headaches
- Hyperthyroid / Graves
- Insomnia
- Menstrual pain
- Mild nausea
- Relaxation
- Sleep aid
- Stress relief
Lemon balm’s sunny disposition is not its only attribute. People have been growing lemon balm for centuries to take advantage of the many uses of this herbal favorite.
GROWING LEMON BALM
This Melissa folium / Melissa Officinalis, thrives in full sun to partial shade in well draining soil. This mint balm doesn’t mind drying out a little between waterings but doesn’t like wet roots or it can develop root rot.
It loves a fertile, pH neutral soil type, but can manage to grow in most soils except for clay soil.
- BOTANICAL NAME: Melissa officinalis L
- SUN: 8-12 hours
- SPROUTS in 7-14 Days
- TEMPS: thrives at an average 69°F
- HARDINESS ZONE: 4-9
- SEED DEPTH: Surface Sow
- PLANTING SPACING: 12 inches – 3 Feet
- SIZE: Up to 3 feet tall x 3 feet wide
Growing Lemon Balm from Seed
- SOWING SEEDS: Surface sow seeds:
- Containers – any time of year when growing indoors, although spring time may show quicker results
- Starts Indoors – in early Spring in seed trays for transplanting
- Outside – in late Spring after any danger of frost and soil temps are between 65-70°F
- GERMINATION – Average is 10 days; but can range between 5-20 days for seeds to germinate
You can buy lemon balm seeds from your favorite seed company or from Amazon.
Surface sow seeds March to May in rich compost, in a seedling tray or cell. Cover lightly with a sprinkling of organic compost or vermiculite and place in a warm spot. We like to sprout our seeds in our indoor greenhouse on plant warming pads.
Transplant to a larger pot or to the garden plot when plants have outgrown the seedling trays at around 6 inches tall.
Growing Lemon Balm from Cuttings
To propagate lemon balm from cuttings, clip a 6” section of non-woody, soft stem growth from the top of new growth before the lemon balm flowers. Pinch the leaves off of the lower ⅔ of the stem and plant cuttings in a medium pot to just below the remaining leaves.
You can plant a dozen or so cuttings in an inner and outer circle to round out the pot, in rich well draining soil or compost.
Planting Young Lemon Balm Plants
In the mint family, this sweet balm plants are readily available at your local garden center during the spring and early summer months. You will find them alongside the herb and vegetable plants. Two to three starter plants are usually plenty for the average backyard garden.
Lemon balm is a perennial leafy herb in zones 4-9.
Growing Lemon Balm in Pots
We’ve chosen to grow our lemon balm in large pots to minimize spread. We don’t bring these indoors over winter as our small cattle panel greenhouse and home sunroom are already full of plants. (You probably know how that goes)!
So we cut them back in fall. Some say to cut them back before the first freeze, however in our 7a growing zone, ours are still growing and green even into December, so we let them grow until the leave are clearly burnt from frost, then prune them back completely and cover in leaves.
We’ve grown them for several years in the same pots and they’ve gotten crowded, so this spring we’ll be repotting, dividing and thinning out old and dead growth and repotting into fresh fertile soil.
Planting Lemon Balm
Plant in Full Sun to Light Shade
Mint plants are known for their prolific growth, and our friend, lemon balm, is no exception. Take into consideration the size of the mature plant when deciding on a location in your space. Plants will reach two feet in height at maturity, with a spreading nature that can be controlled with proper care.
Select a spot in your garden that receives at least six hours of full sun per day. Lemon balm thrives in cooler climates, but can be successfully grown in warmer areas. The key is to provide a few hours of partial shade in the hot afternoons, giving your plant respite from soaring late afternoon temperatures in the thick of mid – summer.
These common mints are often readily available from your local home store, nursery, or farmers’ market, or online plant and seed companies, as well as on Amazon.
Best Soil for Growing Lemon Balm
Lemon balm — as with most plants — grows best in fertile, well-drained soil. A mixture of equal parts sand, compost, and topsoil is ideal. Any well drained garden soil will do as long as it’s not too heavy or holds too much moisture.
If you’re buying potting soil, a good potting soil for herbs works well, or a citrus and cactus potting mix, as both are good for well drained soil that aren’t inclined to get soggy. Keep the soil moist but don’t over water, or your plant could develop a fungal disease or root rot.
Planting Lemon Balm in the Ground
Dig a hole twice as big in diameter as your lemon balm starter pot. Place your lemon balm in the hole and gently fill the hole with soil, making sure the plant is level with the ground.
Water well after transplanting. Transplanting is recommended during cool evening hours to give the lemon balm plant time to recover before higher temperatures return.
Spacing for Healthy Plants
Leaving ample space between your plants will promote adequate air circulation,and protect the lemon balm from problems associated with too much moisture such as fungus or powdery mildew disease. Buttery, white flowers will appear late in the growing season, attracting beneficial pollinators to the garden.
Watering Lemon Balm
Most herbs do not like to sit in wet soil, so moderation is key. While this plant isn’t picky, it doesn’t like to be wet. You can keep the soil moist or even let it dry between waterings, except for in the heat of summer, where you might need to water daily.
New seedlings will need to be kept moist and checked daily for soil moisture. After that, transition to an even watering twice a week, unless soil seems overly dry or wet. Adjust your watering accordingly and dependent on rainfall and summer drought and heat.
Check the soil for moisture each time before watering. The ground should feel dry or only a slightly moist soil before watering again; just avoid soaking. Naturally, most plants can take the good soaking that comes with rain, but just not all the time.
Your lemon balm plant will become stronger and bigger over time, and once established, water sparingly, not letting more than two weeks pass between waterings.
All herbs do best when watered in the morning hours, thus giving the plants the moisture they need during daylight hours. Allowing leaves or roots to remain wet overnight will invite problems, so it is best to avoid evening watering.
It’s best to avoid evening watering.
Don’t Over Water
A note on overwatering: we nearly lost our Meyer lemon tree due to overwatering. The top of the soil would look dry, so it would get watered. But the Meyer lemon leaves falling, got my attention. Apparently, the roots were holding the water, even though the plant looked dry, due to the rich soil holding too much moisture around the roots, leading to root rot.
So I got a water meter to gauge moisture levels before watering and it’s been a huge help. After 40 years of having a green thumb and no major problems with plants, our ailing dwarf Meyer Lemon trees caused me to look deeper into what might be the issue.
So since then, I’ve started using a water meter which has helped me identify the soil moisture from top to bottom of the pot and thus when to water and when to wait.
The water meter has also showed me that it’s not unusual for some sides of the pot soil to be dry and the other side moist or even wet. Likely, this is the result of ailing roots, for healthy plants should have an even root and rhizome system branching out in all directions.
All herbs do best when watered in the morning hours to avoid wet roots overnight. Let them drink by day and breath by night.
~GardensAll.com
Fertilizer for Lemon Balm
Lemon balm loves to be blanketed by compost a few times each growing season. No commercial fertilizer will be needed as long as good quality compost is used to supplement your soil from time to time.
You should fertilize mint balm with compost at least once a month. Gently lift the bushy stems from the ground and apply the compost, being careful not to crush the leaves. The compost will feed your lemon balm plants while improving your garden soil overall.
Following these steps, your lemon balm should keep growing well into late summer and early fall.
Overwintering Lemon Balm
When the growing season ends, simply cut back your lemon balm stems to two to three inches, then cover with compost or mulch. In the springtime, simply uncover your plants to start new growth each spring.
Harvesting Lemon Balm
Your lemon balm will grow quickly allowing you to harvest and use it in very little time.
Plan for 30-40 days to harvest, or when your plant reaches 6 to 8 inches tall.
Naturally, you can clip a few leaves earlier here and there; we often pluck a leaf a day for a nibble in the garden while greeting the sweet balm. But overall it’s best to take fuller clippings, especially in quantities large enough for drying fresh lemon balm leaves, from a full bush of this wonderful garden balm.
Make certain your plant has at least thirty leaves before you begin to harvest it for use. You can pick individual leaves or cut stalks with scissors or garden shears.
You can use mint balm fresh from the garden. Store fresh sprigs by placing stems of lemon balm in a cup or jar of water and place in the refrigerator. We like to pop a snack size Ziploc bag over the top for a quick cover. Or, you can store in a zipper bag with a damp paper towel for up to a week, as with other herbs.
Alternately, you can dehydrate and store in airtight jars.
The lemon balm leaves release a wonderful, uplifting scent of lemon when crushed between the fingers. A fresh sprig or two is plenty freshen up a glass o