Garden Pharmacy – Lemon Balm

If I had to pick one favourite herb, lemon balm would be … wait … up there … in the top ten … maybe?

The competition is hot. But it would be in the running, just for its culinary uses and for garden ecosystem services, forget the medicinal uses. (And that’s true really, of any plant in this series. To make it into a permaculture, let alone a retrosuburbia garden pharmacy, a herb has to pay its way many times over).

Lemon balm (or Melissa) is quite an attractive herb with a dense cover of bright, soft green leaves. Mine is growing on a path edge and I think the lemon scent released by brushing past it all the time helps confuse pest insects. It flowers prolifically in late summer, and though the flowers are little and not very flamboyant, they have lots of nectar. The bees love them, and so do all the little wasps and hoverflies and predatory insects that rely on a nectar source for their carbohydrates. So I would have it in the garden just for its garden ecosystem services.

Any recipe that calls for lemon when I don’t have a lemon, when lemon is out of season and it is not just the acidity but the citrus flavour that is needed, lemon balm is my go-to. It’s good added to pesto (or even as the major ingredient in a pesto), added to (or as the major ingredient) in green goddess dressing, infused in vinegar or oil for dressings and marinades, finely chopped and added to soups, stews, curries and ragus at the end to brighten them, added to a punch bowl or mocktail, Pims jug or cocktail. It’s a herb that lives within two steps of my doorstep.

But we’re talking about herbs for the essential garden pharmacy here, the couple of dozen, in no particular order, medicinals you want to have on hand and close by, and lemon balm definitely owns a spot for that.

Melissa officinalis, family Lamiaceae (old name Labiatae) (the mint family), Lemon Balm

Lemon balm is a rambling, sprawling perennial. It’s from the mint family, and though it doesn’t send out underground runners like mint, it does like to spread. It flowers and seeds prolifically, so it will spread by self-seeding, and it also sends down roots where a sprawling stem touches the ground. It’s easy to pull up though, and likes a strong pruning every so often to keep it bushy, so I don’t find it invasive in my garden. If you are worried, it will cope fine with being growin in a pot or hanging basket. It likes a lot better drainage than mint, and though it will cope with shade, it gets a bit sparse leaved and leggy – it does better with good sun.

Lemon balm has a lot of different phytochemicals – phenolic acids, flavonoids, terpenoids – that have a wide range of effects – antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antispasmodic, antimicrobial, neuroprotective, nephroprotective, antinociceptive effects. So it is no wonder that traditionally it is used for a huge range of conditions. There are a few that stand out for me though.

It’s anti-inflammatory. That means it’s good for reducing the pain from inflammatory conditions like arthritis, PMS, inflammatory bowel disease, and injuries. It is antiviral, and there’s some good research about its use against flu, colds, herpes (cold sores), and even covid. It reduces cortisol levels and lessens anxiety, so it’s good for those shock moments. It’s a rich source of rosmarinic acid, which is what makes rosemary renouned for memory, (and lemon balm tea is a lot more drinkable than rosemary tea 🙂 ). Lemon balm seems to help people calm, focus, and think, so they do better on cognitive tasks that are stressful, and that means they don’t find them quite so stressful.

There’s a good review that covers most of the medicinal use research I found at https://www.imrpress.com/journal/FBS/14/2/10.31083/j.fbs1402016/htm

You will find the rest of this series by clicking the tag Medicinals.

So that’s my number two in this series. Maybe turmeric next? It’s one I use every single day.