How to Prune Your Herbs and Why You Definitely Should

As is the case with all plants, from roses to forsythias, your herbs need to be pruned, too. As spring rolls around, so does the promise of bountiful herb gardens. One way to keep those herbs in tip-top shape and heaving with the harvest is to learn how to prune them properly. It is nothing to be afraid of, and with some simple tips, you will have healthy herbs all season long.

Why Do Herbs Need To be Pruned?

Source: Urban Herbs/YouTube

Just as we trim our hair and nails to keep them strong and from splitting or becoming straggly, plants benefit from this same treatment. Pruning herbs makes space for light and air to circulate through the plant and get to its center stems. This promotes healthy growth and stops the plants from becoming leggy. Also, pests hate not having sheltered spaces to hide in!

Pruning your herbs stop them from having just a few tall, leggy stalks and few leaves. Instead, pruning helps to make them compact, strong, and full of delicious and aromatic leaves for you to harvest.

What’s more, by regularly pruning your herbs and harvesting from them, you are far more likely to pay more attention to any pests or diseases that might be afflicting the plant, and you will be able to take measures early on.

How Do I Prune My Herbs?

There are two different camps of herbs; the woody perennial ones, such as thyme, rosemary, sage, and lavender, and the soft leafy ones, such as basil, mint, cilantro, lemon balm, tarragon, and stevia. The two different groups of herbs have roughly the same pruning techniques but should be approached a little differently.

Soft Leafy Herbs

Many soft leafy herbs are annuals that will bolt (go to seed) and die back rather quickly if left unpruned. Since you want to be able to enjoy your herbs for the whole season, you want to try to control this process back a little. As you see flowers starting to come on these types of herbs, you can simply snip the flower heads off.

Soft leafy herbs are a little more tender, and as long as you have decent fingernails, you can use the technique of ‘pinching off.’ This is when you simply pinch the part of the plant you wish to remove with your fingernails. Be sure to make a clean break and try not to overly crush the remaining stem. Alternatively, you may use some needle-nosed clippers for the same effect.

Whether you are pruning your plant for aesthetics or you are on a harvesting mission, you should only be cutting about the top third of a plant. If you can, try to cut the whole plant evenly, meaning that you cut most of the stems at the same time to a similar length. This helps to give the plant a pleasing shape. Also, and very importantly, new shoots and leaves will grow from the cut stem meaning that you get even more leaves to harvest.

A wonderful little tip about pruning these tender herbs is that once you have taken a clipping, that stem can be rooted in a jar of water to produce another plant to keep for yourself or share with a friend.

Woody Herbs

Pruning woody herbs is really important as you want the plant to continue to produce aromatic leaves, not just thick woody stems that yield no greenery. The best time to prune woody herbs is in the spring when you see new growth shooting from the base of the plants. Again, you are looking at taking the top third of the plant, but do not cut the plant back until it is woody stems only. New leaves will not grow from this, and you will have a stubby-looking plant. Your aim is to not let the woody part become too tall.

Another good time to prune woody herbs is after the plant has finished flowering. It is important not to prune the plant too late in the season, as new shoots will not have time to harden off before the first frost looms. You want these shoots to be able to overwinter well and come back strong the following spring.

Unlike the more tender herbs, the pinching-off method is not an option. You should opt for a good pair of secateurs or sharp clippers.

Keeping your herbs well cared for and well-pruned will ensure that you have lush and healthy herbs to harvest from all season long.

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• What is an Herbal Lawn and How to Grow One
• Top 10 Vegetables and Herbs to Plant In Your Garden
• How to Make Herbal Hair Rinses

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