oregano

When to plant oregano?

Botanical name
Origanum vulgare
Family
Lamiaceae

Oregano is planted from May to June. It is harvested from April to October. It is cut back from May to June.

Oregano is a perennial plant. The edible parts are the leaves and flowers.

oregano
Photo: Espen Klem · CC BY 2.0

Oregano through the year

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Planting
Harvest
Cutting back
15913172125293337414549
  • planting
  • harvest
  • cutting back

In short

Planting
from May to June
weeks 20 to 26
the window opens at the last frost
Spacing between plants
20 to 60 cm
Harvest
from April to October
weeks 18 to 40
Cutting back
from May to June
weeks 20 to 24
Renewal
every four years
Propagation
division, layering, cuttings and seed

The last frost is not on the same day everywhere, so the recorded weeks are a guide and not a date.

Growing conditions

🪨
Soil
light and loamy
☀️
Sun
full sun
💧
Water
little water
❄️
Frost
overwinters outdoors
🌱
Nutrients
a light feeder
📏
Height
30 to 90 cm
⚠️
Toxicity
toxic to cats and dogs

Pests and diseases

Listed here is every problem for which the sources name this plant as a host. The problems are not listed in order of how common they are.

Sage and ligurian leafhopper

pest
Signs
Over the upper side of the leaves there is a coarse pale speckling, and on the underside small animals that jump away quickly. By the end of summer the leaf can be heavily mottled, while the growth of the plant is hardly affected. The affected herbs are perfectly safe to eat.
Prevention
It overwinters as an egg on the plant itself and is active from May into autumn, so cleared old wood and foliage at the end of the season helps. Encourage birds, ladybirds, parasitic wasps and ground beetles.
What to do
No spray is needed: the pest does not affect the growth or the vigour of the plant, so the right answer is to put up with it. If the look bothers you, cut back the most mottled shoots, because the new growth comes clean.

Mint rust

disease
Signs
In spring the shoots are pale and distorted. On the stems and leaves there are dusty orange pustules, followed by yellow and then black ones. Large areas of leaf tissue die and the plant sheds its leaves.
Prevention
The fungus overwinters in the rhizome and in resting spores in the soil, so healthy planting material is everything. Move new shoots to another spot, away from infected rhizomes, and do not propagate from an affected plant. An airy spacing and cleared fallen leaves lower the pressure.
What to do
For edible herbs there are no fungicides against this. Remove affected plants before the spores develop and destroy infected rhizomes. The rhizomes of healthy plants can be disinfected in a hot water bath (44 °C, ten minutes).

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Related plants

The plants below are in the same botanical family (Lamiaceae).

Sources about the plant: ASPCA Toxic and Non-Toxic Plants, GBIF Backbone Taxonomy, NC State Extension Plant Toolbox, Penn State Extension, Royal Horticultural Society, University of Georgia Extension, Wikidata. Checked between 14 and 28 August 2026. The problem descriptions also draw on: EPPO Global Database.