Savory

Light and exposure

Savory is a child of the south: it wants full sun, no compromise. Give it the warmest, brightest spot in the garden, a bank, a south-facing border, the foot of a wall that reflects heat. Six to eight hours of direct sun a day is what concentrates its essential oils and gives it that peppery scent so prized in cooking.

In shade or partial shade it grows weak, stretches upward and loses almost all its aroma. Under our often grey skies, do not skimp on light: a savory placed too much in the shade is a bland savory. In a pot, set it on the sunniest terrace and turn the container from time to time for even growth.

Watering

This is a plant of dry ground, and its greatest enemy is too much water. Once established, savory needs very little: it far prefers a slight thirst to constantly damp soil. Let the earth dry out between waterings and water only during prolonged drought, when the foliage is just beginning to show it.

At emergence and during the first weeks, keep the soil slightly moist while the young plants root. After that, space watering out sharply. In a pot, excess is even quicker to prove fatal: water only when the substrate is dry several centimetres down, and always empty the saucer. A plant that yellows and rots at the base has almost always had too much water, never too little.

Soil and repotting

Forget rich, heavy soil: savory is at its best in poor, stony, dry ground. An over-fed substrate makes it grow soft, watery leaves with a weakened scent. What matters above all is drainage: water must run off, never stagnate.

If your soil is heavy or clayey, as it often is in the Herve country, lighten it generously with coarse sand, gravel or fine grit, and plant preferably on a mound or in a rockery. In a pot, a mix of potting soil and sand, over a good layer of clay pebbles or gravel at the bottom, recreates its original conditions perfectly. No fertiliser: it does not want any.

Temperature and humidity

Savory loves heat and copes very well with summer drought. It is over cold that the two species clearly diverge. Summer savory, an annual, completes its cycle in one season and dies in autumn anyway: frost simply marks its natural end, and you resow it the following spring.

Winter savory is perennial and far hardier: it takes our regional frosts in its stride and comes back every spring. Its weak point is not cold but stagnant winter damp: waterlogged, cold soil rots its roots far more surely than the thermometer does. In stony, draining soil, or in a raised pot so water drains away, it comes through the Belgian winter without flinching.

Pruning and upkeep

For annual savory, pruning merges with harvesting: pinch the tips of the stems regularly to force it to branch and stay bushy rather than bolting to flower too fast. Each picking triggers new tender shoots.

Perennial savory needs a maintenance cut coming out of winter: cut the clumps back by a good third in early spring, once the hard frosts have passed, to remove dead wood and force dense regrowth from the base. Without this yearly cut, the plant thins out from the centre and becomes woody and sparse over the years. Never cut too low into the old wood, it recovers poorly.

Pests and diseases

In draining soil and full sun, savory is a robust plant, little prone to disease. Almost all its troubles come from water: in soil that is too damp, root and collar rot lie in wait, especially in winter for the perennial. The cure is not a treatment but drainage, sorted out from planting.

In a hot, dry summer, aphids can sometimes settle on the young shoots, without real seriousness. Foliage that greys or takes on a light down almost always betrays excess moisture or a lack of air: give it air, space the plants, and let it dry. Curiously, savory is itself reputed to keep aphids away from neighbouring crops, which makes it a good companion in the vegetable garden.

Propagation

Annual savory is propagated by sowing, quite simply. Sow in place from mid-May, once the soil has warmed and the frosts have passed, or under cover in pots from April. The seeds are fine: sow on the surface or barely covered, as they need light to germinate. Emergence takes two to three weeks, then thin the plants out.

Winter savory is sown the same way but is also propagated by stem cuttings in summer, or by clump division in spring, which is quicker for getting ready-formed plants. Take a well-rooted piece from the edge of the clump and replant it straight away in draining soil.

Month-by-month care calendar

Green Hub tips

• Keep the fundamental difference in mind: Satureja hortensis is annual and resows every year, Satureja montana is perennial and hardy. Choose according to whether you want one summer’s crop or a herb that lasts.
• The real risk for the perennial in Belgium is not frost but stagnant winter damp. Plant it in stony soil or in a raised pot and it comes through our winters without protection.
• Poor soil, no fertiliser, little water: it is by depriving it that you flavour it. A savory that is over-fed and over-watered grows bland leaves.
• Set it near broad beans and beans in the vegetable garden. It is their traditional companion, it keeps aphids away from them and then flavours their cooking.
• Harvest before and during flowering, when the essential oils are most concentrated, for the maximum peppery taste.