Time To Trim The Lemon Verbena Plants

Here's a close-up of the new growth on a first-year Lemon Verbena plant. When I see new growth sprouting out low on the main stem, I know it's time to trim! 

Fortunately, the garden almanac tells us it will be a good time to prune for growth this weekend. Perfect timing for the plants and for the moon sign... Can't hurt to prune by the moon, can it?  

And here's another photo showing another plant with fresh, new growth sprouting out around the base of the main stem.

Why trim the plants at all? Since we sell Lemon Verbena commercially, we like to trim to the top customer preference, which is full and bushy plants at the point of sale. For our own use as tea (fresh or dried) and for cooking (fresh or dried) most pruning occurs naturally whenever we harvest.

Photo courtesy of Bonnie Plants

Head's up for what will happen when you snip tender stems off your Lemon Verbena plants - they may get leggy and need support to grow upright, or droop on long stems.

What's the solution, if you like your plants full and bushy?  Trim them back to new growth as pictured above!

Attorney/writer Teo Spengler advises, "Lemon verbena responds to pruning by producing new leaves at the whorl immediately below the cut rather than along the entire stem... Snip off leggy stems just above a leaf whorl."

(FYI - "whorl" means a pattern of spirals or concentric circles. I call it "new growth," but we're describing the same thing.)