Savory: varieties, growing and uses

How to create your own herb-growing space

Make a small savory corner beside beans, not for guaranteed pest deterrence but to gather matching herbs at harvest. Prepare two identical small bean portions with different forms of the herb. Use less winter savory initially.

Choose a suitable growing position

Annual forms suit temporary crops or separate pots. Perennial winter forms structure edges for years. Let creeping savory spill over low stone edges, keeping reachable kitchen tips. Choose growth habit for your site first.

From plant to kitchen

Trimming differs from harvesting the whole plant. On perennials, stay within living green growth and locate new shoots. Gradually replace bare-based shrubs rather than hard cutting blindly. Check drainage as a possible decline cause too.

Scent, flavour and use

Spicy and peppery. Summer savory is milder than winter savory; use winter leaves sparingly when first tasting them.

Care, cutting and harvesting

Sunny and well drained. Water young plants until they establish; perennial forms do not tolerate constantly wet roots.

Lightly trim winter savory in mid to late spring, within the green living portion. Summer savory can be cut after flowering for new shoots; this is not fixed spring pruning. Lightly remove old flower stems from creeping savory.

Take young shoots for use. Harvest a perennial plant modestly in winter because regrowth is slow then.