7 Growing Lemon Balm For Tea Tips That Old Farmers Swear By

You walk out on a cool evening, crush a lemon balm leaf between your fingers, and inhale that bright, citrusy scent. Growing this herb for tea is one of the simplest pleasures on a small farm, but getting a truly potent, flavorful harvest isn’t an accident. It comes from understanding what the plant needs and, more importantly, what it doesn’t need.

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Contain Lemon Balm to Prevent Aggressive Spread

Lemon balm is a member of the mint family, and it behaves exactly like one. If you plant a small sprig directly in a garden bed, you won’t have a sprig next year; you’ll have a sprawling, aggressive patch that chokes out its neighbors. This isn’t a possibility, it’s a certainty.

The simplest solution is to grow it in a container. A five-gallon pot is plenty of room for a healthy plant that will give you all the tea you need. This keeps the roots completely contained and allows you to place it conveniently on a patio or near the kitchen door. The main tradeoff here is watering, as pots dry out much faster than garden soil.

If you’re set on planting it in the ground, you must use a root barrier. You can sink a bottomless bucket or a large nursery pot into the soil, leaving a two-inch lip above the ground, and plant the lemon balm inside. This corrals the spreading runners. Just be warned: some runners will eventually find their way over the top or through drainage holes if you aren’t vigilant. Containment is not a one-time task; it’s an ongoing strategy.

Lean Soil Encourages More Potent Essential Oils

The instinct for most gardeners is to amend soil with rich compost and fertilizers. With lemon balm, and many other Mediterranean herbs, this is a mistake. Pampering the plant with excessive nutrients encourages lush, rapid foliage growth, but it dilutes the essential oils that give the leaves their signature flavor and aroma.

For a more potent tea, you want to stress the plant just a little. Lemon balm thrives in average, well-draining soil—the kind you might ignore in other parts of the garden. This slight hardship forces the plant to concentrate its resources, producing leaves with a much more intense lemony character. Think of it as choosing quality over quantity.

So, skip the heavy-duty compost and nitrogen-rich fertilizers. If your soil is heavy clay, amend it with a bit of sand or small gravel to improve drainage. Otherwise, leave it be. You’ll get a slightly smaller, more compact plant, but the leaves you harvest will make a far superior cup of tea.

Consistent Watering Without Waterlogging the Roots

Lemon balm walks a fine line with water. It doesn’t like to be parched, but it absolutely despises sitting in soggy soil. The key is consistency, not constant saturation.

Overwatering is the more common and dangerous mistake. When the roots are waterlogged, they can’t breathe, leading to root rot and yellowing, droopy leaves that can be mistaken for a sign of thirst. The best practice is to water deeply, but infrequently. Let the top inch or two of soil dry out completely between waterings, then give it a good soak.

A plant in a terra cotta pot on a sunny deck will need water far more often than one planted in a shady, in-ground bed. Pay attention to the plant and the soil, not a rigid schedule. Wilting leaves in the afternoon heat are normal, but if they’re still wilted in the cool of the next morning, the plant is telling you it’s truly thirsty.

Morning Harvests Capture the Most Potent Oils

When you harvest your lemon balm matters just as much as how you grow it. The volatile oils responsible for that incredible scent and flavor are at their peak in the morning. This is the time to gather your leaves for tea, whether fresh or for drying.

The ideal window for harvesting is after the morning dew has evaporated but before the sun becomes intense. As the day heats up, the plant begins to lose some of those precious oils to the air. Harvesting in the midday sun can result in a less fragrant and flavorful product.

Think of the plant’s daily cycle. In the cool morning, the oils are concentrated in the leaves, held in by a bit of moisture. It’s a small detail, but paying attention to this timing is what separates a decent herbal tea from a truly exceptional one.

Prune Often to Encourage Bushy, Leafy Growth

Don’t be timid with your pruning shears. Every time you harvest lemon balm, you are pruning it, and this is exactly what the plant wants. Regular cutting encourages the plant to send out new side shoots from the nodes below the cut, transforming a potentially leggy, sparse plant into a dense, bushy powerhouse.

Left to its own devices, lemon balm will grow tall, produce flowers, and set seed. While the flowers are great for pollinators, they also signal to the plant that its life cycle is nearing completion, and leaf production slows down. Cutting the plant back by about a third, several times during the growing season, prevents flowering and keeps it in a constant state of leafy growth.

Your goal is a continuous supply of tender, flavorful leaves. A hard prune in early summer, after the first major flush of growth, will rejuvenate the entire plant. It may look severe at first, but within a couple of weeks, you’ll be rewarded with a fresh explosion of fragrant foliage perfect for your next batch of tea.

Ensure Good Air Circulation to Prevent Mildew

Lemon balm is generally a hardy plant, but its one common weakness is powdery mildew. This fungal disease appears as a white, dusty coating on the leaves, especially during hot, humid weather. While not necessarily fatal, it ruins the leaves for tea.

The best defense is a good offense, and that means providing excellent air circulation. If you’re planting multiple lemon balm plants, or putting them near other perennials, give them plenty of space—at least 18 to 24 inches apart. This allows air to move freely around the foliage, drying it out and making it harder for fungal spores to take hold.

Also, be mindful of how you’re pruning. A plant that is too dense in the center can trap humidity. Thin out a few of the central stems if the plant becomes overly crowded. This simple act of selective pruning opens up the core of the plant to light and air, drastically reducing the chances you’ll ever have to deal with mildew.

Hang Small Bunches to Air-Dry in a Dark Room

Drying lemon balm is the best way to preserve your harvest for winter teas, but the method matters. Heat and light are the enemies of flavor and color. Using a dehydrator on high heat or drying leaves in the sun will give you brown, flavorless crisps.

The old-fashioned way is still the best. Gather your harvested stems into small, loose bunches—no more than a half-dozen stems each. Tying them in massive bundles traps moisture and invites mold. Secure each small bunch with twine and hang them upside down in a dark, dry, and well-ventilated area like an attic, a spare closet, or a dry corner of the barn.

The leaves are ready when they are crispy to the touch and crumble easily, which usually takes one to two weeks. Once fully dry, gently strip the leaves from the stems and store them in an airtight glass jar away from direct sunlight. This gentle, slow-drying process perfectly preserves the essential oils, ensuring your mid-winter cup of tea tastes as fresh as a summer afternoon.

Cut Back Hard in Late Fall for Winter Hardiness

As the growing season winds down, one final task will set your lemon balm up for a healthy return next spring. After the first light frost has nipped the leaves but before the ground freezes solid, it’s time for a hard prune. This isn’t about harvesting; it’s about preparing the plant for dormancy.

Cut the entire plant back to just two or three inches above the ground. This removes the dead and dying foliage, which can otherwise harbor fungal diseases and pests over the winter. It also directs all of the plant’s remaining energy downward into its root system, which is exactly where it needs to be to survive the cold.

In colder climates (Zone 5 or below), you can add a two-inch layer of mulch, like straw or shredded leaves, over the crown of the plant after cutting it back. This provides an extra layer of insulation against harsh temperature swings. Come spring, you’ll see vigorous new growth emerge from the healthy, well-rested roots.

Growing lemon balm is easy, but growing it well requires a bit of thoughtful neglect and intentional timing. By focusing on creating a slightly stressed, well-pruned, and properly harvested plant, you’re not just growing an herb—you’re cultivating flavor. The result is a simple, honest cup of tea that tastes of the sun and your own hard work.