Perennial
How to grow lovage
Levisticum officinale
Lovage is a fully hardy perennial that reaches 2 m, so give one plant a permanent place at the back of a bed in deep, rich, moist soil, in sun or light shade. Sow in March or April, or plant in May, allowing about a metre each way. Feed and mulch it in March, and cut it to 15 cm in July for a second crop of tender, celery-flavoured leaves.
- Hardiness
- Fully hardy
- Position
- Sun to light shade
- Soil
- Deep, rich, moisture-retentive
- Ideal pH
- 6.0 to 7.0
- Water
- Moderate to high
- Feeding
- Moderate feeder
Sowing and planting lovage
WhenSow Mar to Apr or plant May; harvest May to Sep; cut down in Oct
Starting off
Sow fresh seed in Aug to Sep or Mar to Apr, 1 cm deep; it germinates in 10 to 20 days at 15 to 20°C but loses viability within a year, so buy fresh. Plant pot-grown stock in May. Divide the crown in Mar or Sep every four or five years, replanting pieces with at least one bud 5 cm deep.
Spacing and planting
One plant is enough for a household: allow 90 cm to 1.2 m each way (spread 1 m, height 2 m), sowing 1 cm deep. Only a 45 cm or larger tub will do, and it is far happier in deep ground.
Varieties worth growing
- Lovage (Levisticum officinale)
- There are no named varieties; the species is what every nursery and seed packet supplies. One plant is plenty, so a pot-grown plant is often better value than a packet of short-lived seed.
- Scots lovage (Ligusticum scoticum)
- A different plant, native to northern coasts, that reaches only about 60 cm. Milder, with a parsley and celery flavour, and a realistic alternative where there is no room for a 2 m herb.
- Leaf celery (Apium graveolens var. secalinum)
- Not lovage, but the closest substitute for small gardens and pots: a hardy biennial sown each spring that gives the same celery note in soups from a plant 30 cm tall.
Lovage month by month
Timings are for central England. Allow two weeks later in the north and on cold, heavy soil.
- January
Nothing to do. The plant is dormant below ground.
- February
Nothing to do. Mark where the crown is so it is not dug into.
- March
Feed and mulch as the red shoots appear. Divide old crowns. Sow fresh seed. Cover a few shoots with a pot to blanch.
- April
Sow, or prick out seedlings. Cut blanched stems. Guard new shoots from slugs.
- May
Plant pot-grown lovage. Start picking young leaves.
- June
Pick regularly. Stake at 1 m in windy gardens. Remove leaf miner blotches.
- July
Cut the whole plant to 15 cm, water well and give the second light feed.
- August
Pick the new flush. Collect seed heads from any stems left to flower. Sow fresh seed.
- September
Sow fresh seed or divide crowns. Freeze or dry leaves.
- October
Cut the yellowing stems down to the ground.
- November
Nothing to do.
- December
Nothing to do.
Feeding lovage
A big perennial that makes 2 m of growth from nothing each spring, so it repays one balanced feed and a mulch in March and a lighter feed after the July cut. It is a moderate feeder, not a hungry one.
Moderate, a big perennial that appreciates a spring feed and a mulch.
Feeding plan
March, as shoots appear
About 100 g/m². One mature plant covers roughly a square metre, so 100 g scattered round the crown and watered in.
March, after feeding
Garden compost
A 5 cm mulch over the root area, kept just clear of the emerging shoots.
July, after cutting back
Half the label rate: 50 g/m², or about 50 g per plant, watered in thoroughly.
Potting into a tub
5 g per litre of compost mixed through: 200 g for a 45 cm tub holding about 40 litres. In later years top-dress each March at 2 g per litre, which is 80 g.
Signs to watch
Yellowing, wilting leaves in Jul
Drought on a shallow soil
Soak, mulch and cut back
Pale, small leaves on an old clump
Nitrogen short and congested
Balanced feed in Mar and divide
Older leaves yellow between green veins
Magnesium short
Epsom salts
Hollow, flopping stems
Wind, not hunger
Stake at 1 m
Pests, diseases and problems
Brown, dry blotches and blisters in the leaves, with small white maggots inside
Celery leaf miner, the larva of a small fly, from May onwards
Pinch out and bin affected leaflets as soon as they appear. If it is widespread, cut the plant to 15 cm and let it regrow clean.
New shoots eaten as they emerge in March and April
Slugs and snails
Check the crown after dark and pick them off. Once the shoots are 20 cm tall the plant outgrows the damage.
Dense colonies of black insects on flower stems and young leaves in early summer
Black bean aphid and related aphids
Cut off the worst stems, or wash off with water. Ladybirds and hoverfly larvae usually follow, and the July cut-back removes the rest.
Leaves yellow, coarse and tatty in July and August
Normal ageing after flowering, made worse by dry soil
Cut the whole plant down to 15 cm, soak it and mulch. Fresh leaves are ready in three to four weeks.
Seedlings appearing round the plant and across the bed
Self-seeding from heads left to ripen
Cut the flower stems off before the seed turns brown, unless you want seed for the kitchen or for sowing fresh.
Harvest and rotation
Harvest and storage
Pick young leaves from May and blanch spring stems under a pot for a celery-flavoured vegetable. Cut the whole plant to 15 cm in Jul for a fresh flush of tender leaf; a mature plant gives several kilos a year. Freeze chopped leaf in bags, dry leaves in a warm airy spot for soups, and gather seed heads in Aug.
Rotation and companions
A perennial umbellifer: no rotation needed.
Good to knowGrows tall (2m+); cut it back for a fresh crop of young, celery-flavoured leaves.
Growing lovage in pots
Lovage is not a natural pot plant: it has a deep, fleshy root and wants to be 2 m tall. If a tub is the only option, use one at least 45 cm wide and deep, filled with loam-based compost, and expect a plant of about 1 m. Water every day in summer, as it wilts fast in a container, and cut it down in July as you would in the ground. Divide and repot in fresh compost every second or third March. For a small space, leaf celery or Scots lovage is the better choice.
Lovage: common questions
How big does lovage grow?
Lovage reaches about 2 m tall and 1 m across by midsummer once established, usually from its second or third year. It dies back to the ground each autumn. Cutting it down to 15 cm in July keeps it shorter and leafier for the rest of the season.
What does lovage taste like and how is it used?
Lovage tastes like strong celery with a hint of parsley and aniseed. A few young leaves are enough to flavour a soup, stock or stew, the spring stems can be blanched and eaten as a vegetable, and the seeds are used like celery seed. It is much stronger than celery, so use it sparingly.
Is lovage easy to grow from seed?
Yes, as long as the seed is fresh. Lovage seed loses viability within a year, so sow it soon after it ripens in August or September, or buy new seed for a March or April sowing. Germination takes 10 to 20 days, and plants are big enough to pick from in their second year.
Sources
Growing information on this page was checked against these references in November 2026. Feeding rates are Dr Forest label rates.
- How to grow lovageRHS
- How to grow lovageBBC Gardeners' World Magazine