The attractive lemon verbena shrub is so much more than just another pretty expression . Delicious , relaxing flavored tea can easily be brewed from its sugared , redolent , lemony leaves . Stems and verdure can also be rendered into aromatic oil for exercise in cause your own personal fragrances . Foliage can be dried to create festive potpourris . Fast growing and virtually pest and disease free , lemon vervain is winter intrepid only to USDA Zone 8 , but with a with child bed of wintertime mulch and the occasional sip of water supply , your shrub will return to you in the springtime . These plant life seem to thrive specially well when judiciously pruned throughout the growing season .
Step 1
utilise clean , piercing shear to prune your lemon vervain in mid - spring . Remove any dead or damaged wood . Cut main limb and stems back to about 12 to 14 inch above ground level to encourage a orderly , compact habit .
Step 2
Begin harvesting leaves and stems from your stinker verbena ahead of time in the summer . Young emergence can be trimmed back with scissors hold as much as 12 inches at any one time without harming the plant . The more you trim , the full the shrub will grow .
Step 3
Cut out any deadened or damaged limbs whenever you see them , throughout the get season .
Step 4
Trim back any stems that you feel give the lemon verbena a bushy appearance . This may be done anytime that you think the plant begin to look unkempt .
Step 5
Prune the lemon verbena very well in other fall . curve the entire flora back by one - third . Trim new growth completely back to the old increment .
Care Of A Lemon Verbena
Lemon verbena take regular lacrimation and well - drained territory . A 2- to 3 - inch layer of mulch conserves wet , regulates soil temperature and keeps weeds in check . Mix the plant food grant to the instructions on the label and then apply it to moist soil — fertilizing juiceless filth may scorch the theme . Harvest lemon verbena just before the minor flowers develop . If the flora looks scraggly , cut back it hard in other give , but leave a few buds on the root , as Modern stems grow from the buds . Often , directing a strong current of water at the plant is enough to dislodge a abstemious infestation of aphids .
