Lemon Balm

Lemon balm is an easy-care herbaceous perennial and culinary herb valued for its lemony taste in recipes and soothing qualities in teas. A tea made with lemon balm can reduce stress and relieve discomfort from indigestion.

Lemon balm grows much the same way as mint, creeping across garden beds by shallow underground rhizomes. It stays reliably short and makes a great groundcover, only getting over a foot tall if it contained and unable to creep. As with mint, a close relative of lemon balm, you’ll need to stay on top of lemon balm to keep it from moving into unwanted areas of the garden.

Choose a spot that gets early morning sun. It even thrives in part shade.  It likes well-drained soil and a bit of extra moisture in times of drought when it gets lots of sun.

Lemon balm also spreads by seeds, but the flowers are relatively small and unstriking. To keep it in shape, shear lemon balm regularly, and all the way to the ground in late winter, to force the production of new growth.