by Rex Trulove

Created on: June 30, 2007   Last Updated: July 01, 2007

Garden sage is a well known herb that is used in many dishes. The dried and crumbled leaves are often sold in stores as "rubbed sage", but if you figure out the per pound price, you will find that store bought dried sage is quite expensive. Thankfully, it is one of the easiest to grow of the herbs, it is very hardy, and it is perennial, which means that as long as it has at least some protection, it will come up year after year. In fact, we had a sage plant that was grown in a very poor location, in weak soil, that produced huge quantities of leaves for 5 years. I could even go out in the winter, brush the snow away, and get fresh leaves...a little cold singed, perhaps, but still tasting great.

Sage originally came from the rather inhospitable shores of the northern Mediterranean. This means that this plant does not require rich loamy soil, and in fact, will tend to do better in poorer soils. It prefers rather dry and shady areas, though some periods of sunshine are welcome. If it gets plenty of shade, deep watering it once a week (or twice in the heat of summer, especially in hotter climates) suits it well. If you live in an area that has a very shallow water table, sage can also be grown in raised beds or in large pots. The plants should be protected from the harshest weather, however. As I mentioned, ours wintered over very well underneath 2-3' of snow, but it was close to the foundation of the house and out of the direct blasts of the worst weather.

Many sub-species of sage have been produced, so the leaves can be of variable sizes, shapes, and colors. Some sages make very attractive border plants. For instance, variegated sage (the one I mentioned above as a heavy producer for 5 years) has leaves that are light green and gold. The leaves tend to be larger in the early spring than later on, because as the year goes by, the plant produces more and more leaves, which compete for sunshine and nutrients. Periodically clipping the leaves, then, helps to allow the plant to produce consistently larger leaves.

As with many herbs, if you have a sage that has one primary stem, clipping off the top 1/2" of the plant, once the plant is 10-12" tall, encourages it to become more bushy, though sage seldom grows very tall in any event. Still, bushier growth translates to more leaves.

Even in moderately poor soil, fertilizer isn't needed. But if the plant begins to droop, give it water.

Harvesting is usually done many times a year, though you can also use fresh leaves. To harvest,

• 1
• 2
• Next Page >>