How to grow sage.

Sage at a glance

Sage is one of the easiest herbs to keep going once it is in the right spot, because it is a tough evergreen shrub rather than a fussy annual. Get the drainage and the sun right and it largely looks after itself.

Where to grow it

Sage comes from the dry, sunny Mediterranean, so it wants the warmest, brightest, most sheltered spot you have and soil that drains freely. The single thing that kills established sage in this country is not cold, it is sitting in cold, wet soil over winter, which rots the roots.

If your ground is heavy, work plenty of grit into the planting hole, or grow it in a raised bed or a pot instead. In a container, use one at least 30cm (12in) wide and deep with drainage holes, filled with peat-free soil-based compost mixed with up to 25% horticultural grit by volume. Move pots to a sheltered spot for winter so the roots do not sit sodden.

Buying and planting

Buy a plant. It is the honest shortcut here: the perennial culinary sage most people want is slow and unreliable from seed, taking at least a year to reach a useful size, so a young plant from spring or a larger 2 to 3 litre pot gets you picking the same season. You will also get a named variety you can taste before you buy.

• Plant in spring or early summer so it has the whole season to settle in before winter.
• Space plants at least 30cm (12in) apart, as they spread as much as they grow tall.
• Set the plant so the top of the rootball is only lightly covered with soil, not buried deep.

If you do want to sow, start seed indoors on a warm windowsill in spring; it germinates in about two weeks. Just be patient, as it will not earn its keep until the following year.

Watering and care

Water a newly planted sage during dry spells through its first summer while the roots spread. After that, a plant in the ground is genuinely drought-tolerant and needs no extra watering in all but the longest dry spells. Pots dry out faster, so keep the compost slightly moist but never saturated.

Feeding in the ground is unnecessary and counterproductive. A container plant over a year old is the only one worth feeding: a sprinkling of general-purpose granular feed in late spring or early summer is plenty.

Pruning and harvesting

One light prune a year is what keeps sage looking good. In mid- to late spring, trim the plant over to keep it compact and push out fresh, leafy growth from lower down. Gardeners' World suggests a gentle prune after flowering instead; either works, as long as the cut is light.

Because it is evergreen you can pick leaves all year, though the fresh spring and summer growth has the best flavour. Pick before the flowers open, ideally in late morning or early evening when the aromatic oils are most concentrated. Dry sprigs in a warm, dark, airy place, or freeze chopped leaves in ice-cube trays for winter cooking.

Types to try

Common sage is the one for the kitchen, but the coloured-leaf forms earn their place in a border and still cook perfectly well:

Propagate any of them from softwood cuttings in late spring or early summer: a soft shoot tip, cut just below a leaf joint, roots quickly in damp sharp sand on a sunny windowsill. You can also layer a low stem into the soil in spring or autumn and lift the rooted piece later.

Common problems

• Waterlogging is the real danger: sage rots in cold, wet soil over winter. Sort the drainage and most other problems never arise.
• Woodiness comes with age. Prune lightly each spring and replace the plant after six or seven years rather than cutting it hard.
• Leafhoppers, capsid bugs and red spider mite can mottle or discolour the leaves. A blast of water or a soap-based organic spray usually sorts them.
• Rosemary beetle and powdery mildew turn up too, but the RHS notes these rarely cause serious harm, so control is not usually needed.

Frequently asked questions