To keep your herbs producing lots of lovely leaves, you may need to do a spot of pruning. Alternatively, let them flower and enjoy seeing the bees flock to your plot!
- Mint and Lemon Balm often become a bit leggy at this time of year, so you can cut them back quite heavily to encourage them to grow a bit more bushily. Cut them right back to the ground if they start to flower.
- Basil loves to bolt and flower, but cutting the stems right back leaving two or three pairs of leaf shoots will get it to grow some more leaves and bush out. Do this quite regularly throughout the summer.
- Chives can be cut right back after flowering to encourage new growth.
- Thyme will do really well from being lightly pruned after it has flowered. This prevents it becoming too woody. Cut back the oldest looking stems by two thirds but leave younger stems.
- Rosemary only really needs to be pruned if you feel it’s getting too big. Cut stems by no more than a third.
- Oregano, marjoram and tarragon can be cut right back once they start to flower. They’ll come back again really quickly, within a week or so.
- Sage doesn’t need pruning at this time of year but pick off the leaves regularly to encourage new growth even if you’re not going to use them.