Sage – planting and care

Scientific name (Latin): Sage

Family: Lamiaceae (Mint family)

Sage can be grown from both seeds and by propagation with cuttings. While seeds can be sown as early as March, the easiest way to propagate garden sage is by taking cuttings from July until the end of summer. This fragrant plant is rarely enough, so if you start growing your own sage from seeds, you can continue propagating your sage with cuttings to spread it throughout your garden.

It is just as easy to buy sage as a ready-made plant from us, which you can then plant directly in your garden or bed as soon as the frost has passed.

• If you want to grow your sage from seeds into lovely summer flowers, you need to pre-cultivate them before planting. It's a good idea to start sowing the seeds as early as March, so they have enough time to grow properly.
  
• Use seed-starting soil and scatter the seeds on the surface of the soil, then gently press them down. Sage is light-sensitive for germination, so the seeds should not be covered with soil. Make sure your sage gets plenty of light during the entire germination period. You can use extra lamps or fluorescent lights over the seedlings for better growth.
  
• When the night frost is over, you can begin to harden off the plants for outdoor planting by gradually getting them used to the outdoor climate. Start by placing the plants outside for a few hours a day, and gradually increase this over the course of a week.
  
• Choose a spot in the garden where you can give your sage a warm and sunny location, as it thrives best under these conditions. Additionally, they prefer a well-drained spot to avoid the roots sitting in water for too long.
  
• Sage thrives in garden soil, so this type of soil is perfect for the purpose.
  
• Water regularly, and sometimes generously, but allow the plant to dry out between waterings. You can also add some nutrients periodically.

When it comes to herb plants, they thrive best when harvested little and often, rather than harvesting everything at once. With sage, you can harvest both leaves and flowers and use them directly in cooking, or dry or freeze them. When the flowering begins, sage loses some of its flavor, so for the most intense aromatic experience, it's best to harvest a little before the flowering starts.

To keep your perennial sage in good condition, it's nice to pamper it with some annual pruning. In the spring, it's a good time to prune the sage before it starts forming new buds. Cut the shoots down to about 5 cm, making it easier for your sage to sprout new growth, becoming even more beautiful and bushy.

For those who prefer to keep their sage indoors, it remains a fairly modest plant that will thrive as long as it's kept cool and bright during the winter months. Even indoors, it's important to ensure your sage is in a pot with drainage so it doesn't sit with its roots in water – something it doesn't particularly like.

Avoid pruning your sage before winter, as this can allow rainwater to enter the cut branches and cause them to rot. Ensure your sage has a good winter home by using insulating mulch or wrapping the pots in heat-retaining materials to maintain a steady temperature. It’s also a good idea to lift the pots slightly off the ground to ensure good air circulation during the winter, as sage prefers dry conditions. Avoid watering during the winter months.

Since sage has a large family, there are naturally several different uses to consider before deciding which type of sage you're after. There are many species that make excellent summer flowers, which you can grow from seed to plant at home. In addition, you have culinary sage and ornamental sage, with the latter being hardy to zone 2, and sometimes zone 3, if you can provide effective winter protection.

Apart from being used as a spice, sage works excellently as an ornamental plant, and it has also been used as a medicinal plant for centuries. The name reveals sage’s history as a medicinal plant, as the Latin word salvare is based on "to heal" and "to save."

The most well-known species we encounter today are culinary sage and steppe sage, with the former used as a kitchen plant and the latter as an ornamental plant both indoors and outdoors. There is something very special about growing your own herbs at home, and sage is no exception. Not only does it offer a beautiful appearance and fragrant aromas, but you can also harvest directly from the leaves and flowers to use in cooking. It doesn’t get much more local than that! Think of it as an investment in a kitchen garden that you can enjoy.

We provide more tips on herb growing and how to enjoy wonderful herbs in your cooking! In our plant guide, you can learn more about different herbs, and in the grow and eat category, you can select seeds and herbs according to your desires and needs.

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