A fast-growing plant, marjoram will produce a steady supply
of new growth if it is regularly trimmed back. Should you
have more stems than you can use in the kitchen, mix them
into potpourris, sachets, tussie-mussies or herbal wreaths;
the flowering tops sometimes are used as a source of beige
or gray dye, too.
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Growing Your Own
Marjoram cannot tolerate subfreezing temperatures, so it
usually is grown as an annual, but it can be carried over
because it is one of the easiest herbs to propagate from
stem cuttings (described below), and it grows beautifully
indoors in winter near a sunny, south-facing window.
In the garden, marjoram never grows more than 15 inches
tall, and the soft stems tend to sprawl as they mature, so
this herb makes a good edging plant. You can start with
seed sown indoors in late winter, but germination usually
is only about 50 percent, and early growth is very slow; a
faster option is to buy new plants in spring.
Most marjoram plants are grown from cuttings, so they are
well rooted and ready to grow as soon as you transplant
them into warm soil. After the last spring frost, set out
plants in full sun, in soil that is gritty and fast
draining with a near-neutral pH. Alternatively, you can
grow marjoram in containers; it's a good plant to mix with
other culinary herbs such as basil and thyme.
Feed your marjoram plants monthly with an all-purpose
organic plant food, or more often if you're growing them in
containers. Take care not to overwater marjoram, but watch
closely for signs of drought stress, too. Plants that wilt
for more than a few hours in midday need more water. Cut
stems back often to encourage your plant to branch, or wait
until just before the flower buds form to harvest them in
bulk by shearing the whole plant back by two-thirds its
size. Sufficient stems for a second cutting should develop
by early fall.
Take cuttings to root in midsummer: Cut several 3-inch-long
stem tips that show no flower buds, remove all but the six
to eight topmost leaves and set the cuttings to root in
moist seed-starting mix. Placed in a shady spot and kept
constantly moist, they should develop vigorous, new root
systems in about three weeks. At that time, transplant the
rooted cuttings, two each to a 6-inch pot filled with
potting soil. A few weeks later, pinch back the tops to
encourage branching.
