Herb / Warm season
Sage
A tough little shrub that hates wet feet
Plant out byMay 4zone 6
- Family
- Mint (Lamiaceae)
- Sun
- Full sun (6+ h)
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Days to harvest
- 75 days
- Spacing
- 24 in apart, rows 30 in
- Pot size
- 3 gal pot (great in pots)
- Frost
- Hardy
- Start
- Either
- Water
When to plant
Showing .
Averages for a typical garden in the region. Your local frost dates may differ by 2-3 weeks, check a local source.Too late this year (try fall)
In zone 6, start seeds indoors Feb 23 to Mar 9; plant out Apr 6 to May 4. Average last frost Apr 20, first fall frost Oct 20.
Units
Sage dies of kindness more often than neglect. The usual story goes like this. A nursery plant goes into rich soil and gets watered with the tomatoes every evening. By midsummer the lower stems are black and soft. Root and stem rot are the big threat. Give it sharp drainage and a sunny spot, and let the top inch of soil dry before you water again.
Once it settles in, sage grows into a slow, steady shrub. It reaches 12 to 30 inches tall and spreads wider than most people expect, so leave about two feet around it. In the first year, take only a few leaves. From the second year on, you can cut it back up to three times a season. Stop in the fall so new growth has time to harden before winter, and prune out the heavy woody stems each spring.
On my balcony, the sage in a clay pot has outlived two basil plants and a rosemary I forgot to bring in. A pot about 12 inches wide is plenty, and clay helps the soil dry out between drinks. It is hardy in USDA zones 4 to 10, though old plants get woody and sparse after a few years. Bees work the blue flowers hard in early summer, so I leave a few stems to bloom.
Things to consider
- Seed is slow and patchy, taking up to three weeks to sprout. Most growers buy one nursery plant or root a stem cutting, which puts leaves in your hand far sooner than sowing does. Seed started indoors 6 to 8 weeks before your last frost works too, for the patient.
- Wet winters kill more sage than cold does. In heavy clay, a raised mound or a pot that drains fast can decide whether the plant comes back in spring or rots in place.
- Plan on replacing it every few years. Old plants turn into a tangle of bare wood with leaves only at the tips. Rooting a couple of cuttings each spring keeps a young plant ready to take over.
Good neighbours
Keep apart
Pests to watch for
AphidsSpider mitesWhiteflies
Questions about growing sage
Why are the bottom leaves of my sage turning yellow?
Soggy soil is the usual cause. Make sure the pot drains, and let the top inch dry out between waterings. Powdery mildew and leaf spots also show up on crowded plants in humid weather, so thin out a few stems to let air through.
Will sage survive the winter outside?
In zones 4 to 10 it usually returns on its own when planted in the ground. Stop cutting in early fall so the plant can toughen up. A potted plant can wait out the cold in an unheated garage; just keep its soil on the dry side. Without a garage, push the pot against a house wall out of the wind and tuck some mulch over the soil.
What grows well next to sage?
Old garden lists pair it with rosemary, carrots and cabbage-family crops like broccoli, and the flowers draw bees to the bed. The Old Farmer's Almanac suggests keeping it away from cucumbers. Its biggest need is dry soil, so skip any bed that gets watered every day. Thyme and rosemary like the same lean, dry ground, which makes them easy neighbors.
Save this crop
Pin it to a garden board so it is there when planting time comes round.
Similar crops
Sources
General guidance for home gardens. Frost dates are averages for a zone or region; check a local source (in the US your county extension office) for local timing.