Thanks daisy.......your info helps alot!

Hmmm. I am in Toronto which is in and around Zome 5 i believe. I grew Lemongrass last year and it was incredible. I had more than i could use, and I only started with 2 plants. I would not put it in a pot as it seems to like its space. It grows and spreads a little, but not too much. Not like a Mint or anything. And it is very easy to control the spreading, just pick from the outside.

I had built a large wooden box that I use as a "Herb Box" and grew several herbs in. Lemongrass was one of them, although I think it would have done just as well in the ground. If you need to put it in a pot, make it a big and wide one. The roots really seem to set themselves well, mine died over the winter of course, and i had a hard time getting the roots out this spring. Pretty deep and ingrained.

Lemongrass absolutely needs a spot where it will get good drainage, but more importantly, lots and lots of sun. If you can get it lots of sun, it will still do well up in these colder climates.

Good luck with it! It was one of my best producing herbs last year. I had to go on a research binge to see where I could use up all of it, in recipes and such :)

Thanks cziga!

I had lemon grass and it's an annual here in Zone 7. It gets very tall and it grew fast. I loved the scent, but it definitely dies in the winter - permanently. I've had better luck over-wintering lemon verbena, and even that's pushing my zone 7 quite a bit. If you want a lemon flavored "thug" get lemon-balm. It will for sure winter over and it spreads like gang busters, since it's member of the mint family of plants.

So.. if you want to keep it from year to year, I'd try it in a pot. A big pot :)

Here is a link that might be useful: More Lemongrass Info

Lemon Grass is an annual anywhere colder than zone 9...no need to worry about the grass taking over :)

Vera

I grow it in a container and take it in to a sunny windowsill in cold weather. it can be divided regularly and can live for years if prevented from freeze.

The lemongrass has medicinal qualities which can help prevent Soar throat.

I'm from India and we grow the lemongrass everyehere. It will divide easily and can be brought indoors to a very sunny location too.

Steep the lemongrass in boiling water along with Ginger and Mint and use daily. You are sure to stay away from throat related problems.

you can dry the lemongrass by cutting the blades to about 2" in size and throwing them in apaper bag or on the counter over paper towel until dry.

and of course it has incredible smell.

enjoy:)

Lemon grass is much more proliferative in the ground. If you use a pot, use a big one. You can also grow it in the ground during the warm season & bring it indoors in the winter.

I think it would be happiest at my house.... send it to me! :D hee hee!

Here in south Louisiana my experience is a little different. When I had lemongrass in the herb bed it tried to take over, so I dug it up and put some of it in a medium size pot where's it been for the past 4 years. I can contain it's growth and should we have a hard freeze (22° or lower) I can move the pot into the garage overnight.

I grew lemon balm for years, still have a small piece in a partially shaded location. In the sun it tended to spread, but wasn't hard to contain. Now I grow lemon verbena instead.

Harper

So I should dig up that little plant I just bought and put it in a big pot if I don't want it to take over the garden?

Rosefolly

Just wait and see how it acts in your garden. You can always dig it up in the fall or next spring and pot it then.

Harper

I have been only a container gardener since I began my herb addiction because i live in an apartment. as soon as i got a plot in a local community garden, lemongrass was the first thing i transplanted. i'm new to non-container gardening, but apparently i did something right when i transplanted that lemongrass! it has been growing so fast, i'm kind of getting nervous about the neighboring herbs! i can't wait to use it. but it definitely seems happy.

Interesting! I live in zone 5, PEI and have 2 lemon grass in a flower garden. Now I know I'll have to dig it up and replant it in pots. Thanks!

I've written this here before, but I keep lemongrass in a pot - and I keep it in the ground. Each spring, after all danger of frost (which will definitely kill it), I take out the pot of lemongrass that I overwinter in a sunny room in my house. I trim back all the dead leaves and sprouts, then dump the whole clump out of the pot into my wheelbarrow. Using a shovel, I cut the clump in two (I could break it into more pieces). One half I place back in the pot with new potting soil and compost. I do not use an extremely large pot, because I want it to be reasonable for moving into the house in winter and then doing all of what I just described. That pot stays out in a very sunny location all summer, grows to refill the pot, and it will be moved in before any danger of frost. I harvest from it as I like all summer. The other half I plant in a very sunny location in my garden. It grows huge, and actually makes the most flavorful and juicy lemongrass for harvest all summer long. It definitely dies completely once it gets cold enough here in my zone 7 garden. I've been doing this for 5 or 6 years now, and I see no reason I won't be able to continue. I get plenty of lemongrass.

By the way, I also grow lemon verbena in pots that have to be moved in every winter. I grow lemon balm in pots to keep it from taking over, but I leave it out. For some reason, one of my pots of lemon balm died completely last winter, a particularly harsh one, but I just divided the one that survived, and both pots are full again. They are forecasting another cold winter - I'll probably move most of my potted mints and things I leave out to a more protected part of my yard for this winter.