Grow Your Own Mosquito Repellent

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CALMING AND CONVENIENT

There are numerous ways to enjoy lemon balm, whether you add it to tea, use it as a cooking herb, purchase supplements or tinctures from the health food store, or simply enjoy its aromatherapeutic qualities in a relaxing bath.

“Since many of the effective compounds will pass through the skin, you can have your tea, drink it too, and bathe in it,” Duke says. To make lemon balm tea, add a handful of lemon balm leaves to 1 cup of water and steep for at least five minutes. For a soothing lemon balm bath, put some fresh (or dried) crushed lemon balm leaves into a muslin bag, then let the warm water run through it as you fill the tub.

Lemon balm also adds a light lemon flavor to a variety of culinary dishes, such as salads, pasta, fish, chicken, sauces and marinades. Since the leaves lose flavor when dried, add fresh leaves to your dish near the end of the cooking process. Look for fresh lemon balm at your local farmers market if you prefer not to grow it yourself.

How to Grow

Lemon balm is easy to grow from seed, rooted cuttings or by root division. The herb thrives in full sun, but can be grown in partial shade. Varieties ‘All Gold’ and ‘Aurea’ have variegated and yellow foliage, and need some shade because they tend to burn when exposed to full hot sun. They are not as hardy or as flavorful as the common green Melissa officinalis, or the high-citronellal variety, ‘Quedlinburger Niederliegende.’

Lemon balm looks and grows much like mint—it is a member of the mint family—though it does not send runners. It will compete for garden space and is best planted next to other vigorous perennials that will hold their own against this sweet yet somewhat invasive herb. The plants grow from 2 to 2½ feet tall, bushing out laterally, so give each plant about 2 feet of space all around. Prune plants a few times during the growing season to help maintain new growth. If they become too dense and thick, thin by yanking out some of the inner stems. The hardy root system will survive the coldest winters if plants are well mulched.

— Susan Belsinger

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