How to grow Sage in the UK
Soft, grey-green leaves and purple flowers for bees.
- DifficultyEasy peasy
- WhereBeds or Pots
- Grows to60cm
- Spacing45cm
- Time to first pickabout 6 weeks
- Typeperennial
When to sow, plant and harvest sage
| Plant | early April to late June |
|---|---|
| Pick | early May to late October |
Dates are for central England. Sow about two weeks later in the north and Scotland, and up to two weeks earlier in the south and south west. Get the dates for your postcode.
Planting it
- Water your new plants in their pots first
- Dig a hole a bit bigger than the pot
- Tip the plant out gently, holding the leaves, not the stem
- Pop it in the hole, firm the soil around it, and water well
- Space the plants about 45cm apart each way
Top tips for growing sage
- Prune it lightly in spring to stop it getting leggy.
Soil and feeding
Poor, free-draining soil - they don't like it too rich. Most herbs like it quite poor and sunny. Too much food makes them floppy and less tasty.
Harvesting and eating sage
Pick leaves as you need them.
How to eat them: Fry leaves in butter until crisp, or use in stuffing.
Storing sage
Keeps a year, dried.
- Hang small bunches upside down somewhere warm and airy for 1-2 weeks
- Crumble the dry leaves into a jar with a lid
Freeze leaves flat in a bag.
Good varieties of sage
- Common sage: Grey-green leaves for cooking.
- Purple sage: Purple leaves - just as tasty.
Companion planting
Grows well with
- Carrots: its strong smell may hide carrots from carrot fly
- Kale: may confuse cabbage white butterflies
Saving your own sage seed
Late spring or summer.
- Snip a soft, non-flowering shoot about 10cm long, just below a leaf
- Pull off the bottom leaves and push it into a small pot of gritty compost
- Cover with a clear plastic bag and keep it out of hot sun
- In 4-8 weeks it grows roots - a new plant
Where to buy sage plants
Thompson & Morgan · Suttons · Amazon
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Sage questions
When do I plant out sage?
Plant sage out from early April to late June.
When can I pick sage?
Sage is ready from early May to late October. Pick leaves as you need them.
How long do sage take to grow?
Roughly 6 weeks from sowing or planting until the first harvest.
Are sage easy to grow?
Sage are rated 'easy peasy' for beginners, and can be grown in the ground or a raised bed or in pots and containers.
Plan your own garden: it tells you what to do and when, for your postcode.
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