GrowingHQ
Herbculinary herbStraightforward

Marjoram

Origanum majorana

Sweeter and more delicate than oregano, and — unlike oregano — not reliably hardy in Britain, so it is usually grown as an annual or overwintered under cover. The flowers are excellent for bees, which is a fair reason to let some of it flower rather than cutting it all back.

Position
Full sun
Water
low demand
Drainage
Free-draining
Grows to
20–40 cm × 25–30 cm
Hardiness
H3
Harvest
June to September
Difficulty
Straightforward

August

Harvest

Marjoram’s year

Resolved for United Kingdom (general). Every window is stored against a climate event rather than a date, so a late frost pocket runs later than the band shows. What else August calls for.

ActivityJFMAMJJASOND
Sow under coverMarch. April.
Plant outMay. June.
HarvestJune. July. August. September.

Timing that travels

The band above resolves this plant's windows into months for one region. These are the windows themselves, stored against a climate event rather than a date — which is the form that survives being carried to a colder garden, a frost pocket, or next year.

What kind of herb this is

Herbs are a kitchen grouping rather than a botanical one, and the plants in it want opposite things. This is the one distinction that decides how to treat it.

Mediterranean woody herb

Growing regime
source

Sourced guidancehigh confidence

  • Royal Horticultural Society: Marjoram — growing

Checked 2026-08-13

Wants sun, poor free-draining ground and very little water once established. Far more of these die from winter wet at the roots than from cold air, so drainage matters more than hardiness ratings suggest.

Treated the same way: bay, borage, chamomile, hyssop, lemon thyme, oregano and 7 more in the same group. The herb bed, split by regime

Why winter wet kills a Mediterranean herbTwo soil cross-sections side by side. On the left, a well-drained planting: the crown of a rosemary sits slightly proud of the surrounding soil on a low mound, the root zone is open gritty soil with air between the particles, and arrows show winter rain moving down and away past the roots. The plant above is dense and well furnished. On the right, the same herb in heavy soil in a hollow: the crown sits level with or below the surface, the root zone is dense soil over a compacted pan, and winter rain has nowhere to go so a water table stands in the root zone from November to March. The roots there are drawn broken and dashed to show they have died, and the plant above is sparse and thin. The point is that the plant looks unharmed all winter because an evergreen with a full canopy asks almost nothing of its roots in January, so the loss only shows the following spring when it fails to grow.Sharp drainagecrown proud, water moves throughroots stay firm and paleair between the particles all winterWinter wetcrown in a hollow, water standswater table, Nov–Marcompacted pan — nowhere to goroots dark, soft and sourand the plant above still looks fineopen gritty soilheavy soilstanding waterliving rootsPlanting on a low mound, adding grit, or standing a pot on feet all do the same job: get the crown above the water.
The damage happens in January and shows in May. An evergreen herb asks almost nothing of its roots in winter, so a drowned root system stays invisible until the plant is asked to grow and cannot.
Indoors
Not worth growing indoors
Where the indoor assessment comes from
IndoorsSourced guidancemoderate confidence
  • Royal Horticultural Society: Marjoram — growing indoors

Checked 2026-08-13

Almost any herb will sit on a windowsill in July. This is about whether it is still there in March, which is the part a pot on a supermarket shelf does not tell you.

What happens when it flowers

On a herb this is rarely a problem and rarely nothing. It is the point at which the plant stops being what you grew it for — by a lot, a little, or not at all.

Leaves coarsen
source

Sourced guidancehigh confidence

  • Royal Horticultural Society: Marjoram — harvesting

Checked 2026-08-13

Cut back after flowering for a second flush of leaves. Sweet marjoram is grown as an annual in Britain and will not survive a wet winter outdoors whatever the label says.

source

Sourced guidancemoderate confidence

  • Royal Horticultural Society: Marjoram — care

Checked 2026-08-13

What it is worth to pollinators

Recorded only where the evidence is specific to this plant, because “good for bees” attached to everything means nothing attached to anything.

Nectar value
high
source

Sourced guidancemoderate confidence

  • Royal Horticultural Society: Plants for pollinators

Checked 2026-08-13

In flower
July, August

Picking it and feeding bees are not the same plan

The same trade as oregano: the leaves are best just before flowering, and taking them then costs the flowers.

Conditions it needs

Light
Full sun
Frost
Half hardy
Hardiness rating
H3 (RHS)
Grows best at
15–25 °C
Germinates at
15–25 °C
Soil
Sandy, Loam, Chalky
Soil pH
6–8
Drainage
Free-draining
Water needs
low
Drought
good tolerance
Waterlogging
poor tolerance
Heat
good tolerance
Wind and exposure
moderate tolerance
Where these figures come from
LightSourced guidancemoderate confidence
  • Royal Horticultural Society: Marjoram — position

Checked 2026-08-13

FrostSourced guidancehigh confidence
  • Royal Horticultural Society: Marjoram — hardiness

Checked 2026-08-13

Hardiness ratingSourced guidancemoderate confidence
  • Royal Horticultural Society: RHS hardiness ratings

Checked 2026-08-13

Grows best atSourced guidancemoderate confidence
  • Royal Horticultural Society: Marjoram — temperature

Checked 2026-08-13

Germinates atSourced guidancemoderate confidence
  • Royal Horticultural Society: Seed germination temperatures

Checked 2026-08-13

SoilSourced guidancemoderate confidence
  • Royal Horticultural Society: Marjoram — soil

Checked 2026-08-13

Soil pHSourced guidancemoderate confidence
  • Plant Finder — Missouri Botanical Garden: Origanum majorana — culture

Checked 2026-08-13

DrainageSourced guidancemoderate confidence
  • Royal Horticultural Society: Marjoram — soil

Checked 2026-08-13

Water needsHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence

No external citation — see the evidence type above.

Checked 2026-08-13

DroughtHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence

No external citation — see the evidence type above.

Checked 2026-08-13

WaterloggingHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence

No external citation — see the evidence type above.

Checked 2026-08-13

HeatHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence

No external citation — see the evidence type above.

Checked 2026-08-13

Wind and exposureHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence

No external citation — see the evidence type above.

Checked 2026-08-13

On your soil

Computed by comparing this plant's recorded requirements against each soil's recorded characteristics. A recorded horticultural fact overrides the comparison where GrowingHQ holds one.

SoilVerdictWhy
Heavy clayWorks, with one conditionMarjoram will crop on heavy clay, but one thing has to be dealt with first. It needs ground that drains, and this soil holds water. For a crop lifted before winter the risk is not rot but the season: waterlogged ground is cold and unworkable in spring, so sowing is late and germination patchy.Improve the drainage before planting — a raised bed, or bulky organic matter worked in over several seasons. Do not add sand to clay in small quantities; it makes the problem worse.
SandyPrefers this soilSandy suits Marjoram as it stands: The pH suits it: it wants 6 to 8, and this soil is in that range. The free drainage is exactly what it wants. Sandy soil is among the soils it is recorded as suiting. It stands dry conditions better than most, which this soil will test.
Chalky and alkalinePrefers this soilChalky and alkaline suits Marjoram as it stands: The free drainage is exactly what it wants. Chalky soil is among the soils it is recorded as suiting. It stands dry conditions better than most, which this soil will test.
LoamPrefers this soilLoam suits Marjoram as it stands: The pH suits it: it wants 6 to 8, and this soil is in that range. The free drainage is exactly what it wants. Loam is among the soils it is recorded as suiting. The soil holds moisture, which saves a great deal of watering.
SiltyPrefers this soilSilty suits Marjoram as it stands: The pH suits it: it wants 6 to 8, and this soil is in that range. The free drainage is exactly what it wants. The soil holds moisture, which saves a great deal of watering.
Peaty and acidWorks, with one conditionMarjoram will crop on peaty and acid, but one thing has to be dealt with first. It needs ground that drains, and this soil holds water. For a crop lifted before winter the risk is not rot but the season: waterlogged ground is cold and unworkable in spring, so sowing is late and germination patchy.Improve the drainage before planting — a raised bed, or bulky organic matter worked in over several seasons. Do not add sand to clay in small quantities; it makes the problem worse.
Shallow over rockPrefers this soilShallow over rock suits Marjoram as it stands: The free drainage is exactly what it wants. Loam is among the soils it is recorded as suiting. It stands dry conditions better than most, which this soil will test.
Made ground and urban soilWorks, with one conditionMarjoram will crop on made ground and urban soil, but one thing has to be dealt with first. It needs ground that drains, and this soil holds water. For a crop lifted before winter the risk is not rot but the season: waterlogged ground is cold and unworkable in spring, so sowing is late and germination patchy.Improve the drainage before planting — a raised bed, or bulky organic matter worked in over several seasons. Do not add sand to clay in small quantities; it makes the problem worse.

Not sure which you have? Four hand tests will settle it.

Space and spacing

Mature height
20–40 cm
Mature spread
25–30 cm
Rooting depth
20 cm
Spacing
20–30 cm apart
Where these figures come from
Mature heightHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence

No external citation — see the evidence type above.

Checked 2026-08-13

Mature spreadHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence

No external citation — see the evidence type above.

Checked 2026-08-13

Rooting depthHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence

No external citation — see the evidence type above.

Checked 2026-08-13

SpacingSourced guidancemoderate confidence
  • Royal Horticultural Society: Marjoram — spacing

Checked 2026-08-13

How far apart to plant marjoramThree marjoram plants drawn in a row at their recorded spacing of 20–30 cm between plants. The spacing is drawn to scale against a one metre rule; the plants themselves are symbols rather than scale drawings, so the distance between them is the part to read.20–30 cm
Measured centre to centre. Plants set closer than this compete for light and water long before they look crowded, and the crowding cannot be undone once they are in.

In a container

Minimum volume
4 litres or more
Minimum depth
15 cm
Where the container figures come from
Minimum volumeHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence

No external citation — see the evidence type above.

Checked 2026-08-13

Minimum depthHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence

No external citation — see the evidence type above.

Checked 2026-08-13

Almost always grown in a pot in Britain, because the pot can come under cover before winter and the plant is not reliably hardy. A small container suits it; the roots are fine and shallow and a large volume of wet compost around them is a liability.

Value to wildlife

Recorded only where the evidence names a resource and the months it is available. Most plants flower; that on its own is not what this section is about.

Nectar
A significant source
In flower
Jul, Aug
Where these figures come from
NectarSourced guidancemoderate confidence
  • Royal Horticultural Society: Plants for pollinators

Checked 2026-08-13

What keeping this costs

The same trade as oregano: the leaves are best just before flowering, and taking them then costs the flowers.

Where and how you can grow it

Each way of growing is assessed separately, and “not assessed” is a real answer rather than a gap we have filled in with a guess.

MethodSuitabilityWhat it needs
ContainerWell suited
source

Sourced guidancemoderate confidence

  • Royal Horticultural Society: Growing method suitability

Checked 2026-08-13

4 litres; Free-draining compost
WindowsillWell suited
source

Sourced guidancemoderate confidence

  • Royal Horticultural Society: Growing method suitability

Checked 2026-08-13

GreenhouseWell suited
source

Sourced guidancemoderate confidence

  • Royal Horticultural Society: Growing method suitability

Checked 2026-08-13

PolytunnelWell suited
source

Sourced guidancemoderate confidence

  • Royal Horticultural Society: Growing method suitability

Checked 2026-08-13

Open groundWorkable
source

Sourced guidancemoderate confidence

  • Royal Horticultural Society: Growing method suitability

Checked 2026-08-13

Traditional dug bedWorkable
source

Sourced guidancemoderate confidence

  • Royal Horticultural Society: Growing method suitability

Checked 2026-08-13

Raised bedWorkable
source

Sourced guidancemoderate confidence

  • Royal Horticultural Society: Growing method suitability

Checked 2026-08-13

HydroponicsWorkable
source

GrowingHQ editorial positionmoderate confidence

The best of the Mediterranean group in a system, because sweet marjoram is grown as a tender annual and harvested young rather than as a woody perennial.

  • GrowingHQ editorial synthesis — GrowingHQ

Checked 2026-08-13

Growing it

  • PruningCut back by about a third after the first flush of flowers. It keeps the plant compact and produces a second crop of leaves, which otherwise does not come.
  • ProtectionBring a container plant under cover for the winter, or take cuttings in late summer and overwinter those. Marjoram left outside in a wet British winter usually does not reappear.
  • WateringWater sparingly. Sweet marjoram is grown here as an annual or an overwintered pot plant and it is far more easily killed by wet compost than by drought — the roots are fine and shallow and rot quickly. Let the surface dry out properly between waterings, water in the morning rather than the evening, and never leave the pot standing in a saucer.
  • FeedingNo feeding is needed and feeding costs flavour. Sweet marjoram is a one-season plant for most growers, and a multipurpose compost holds all the nutrition it will use in that time. If a plant kept over a second year looks pale and short by midsummer, repot it into fresh compost rather than reaching for a liquid feed.
  • HarvestingStart picking once the plant has several branching stems and keep picking — regular cutting is what stops it flowering and going leggy. Take whole shoot tips rather than single leaves. Flavour is at its best just as the knot-like flower buds form, which is also the point to cut a large batch for drying.
  • PropagationTake soft tip cuttings about 5 cm long in early summer, strip the lower leaves and root them in gritty compost out of direct sun; they root within a fortnight. This is the reliable way to keep a form you like, since sweet marjoram is unlikely to come through a British winter outside and seed-raised plants vary noticeably in flavour.
Where this guidance comes from
PruningSourced guidancehigh confidence
  • Royal Horticultural Society: Marjoram — care

Checked 2026-08-13

ProtectionSourced guidancehigh confidence
  • Royal Horticultural Society: Marjoram — hardiness

Checked 2026-08-13

WateringSourced guidancehigh confidence
  • Royal Horticultural Society: Marjoram — cultivation

Checked 2026-08-13

FeedingSourced guidancehigh confidence
  • Royal Horticultural Society: Marjoram — cultivation

Checked 2026-08-13

HarvestingSourced guidancehigh confidence
  • Royal Horticultural Society: Marjoram — harvesting

Checked 2026-08-13

PropagationSourced guidancehigh confidence
  • Royal Horticultural Society: Marjoram — propagation

Checked 2026-08-13

Where to make a pruning cutFour stems compared. The first is cut cleanly on a slope about five millimetres above an outward-facing bud, sloping away from it, and is labelled correct. The second is cut too far above the bud, leaving a long stub that dies back. The third is cut too close, into the bud itself, which loses the shoot. The fourth is cut sloping towards the bud so rain runs onto it rather than away, which rots it. In every case the bud points outwards, away from the centre of the plant.Correct5 mm, sloping awayToo highstub dies backToo closebud lostSloping inrain sits on the bud
The bud you cut to becomes the new shoot, and it grows in the direction it points — which is why an outward-facing bud opens the plant up and an inward-facing one crosses the middle.
Four ways to make more plantsFour propagation operations compared, each showing where the separation is made and what must be present on both sides of it. Division: a clump cut between crowns, with roots and at least one growing point on every piece. Stem cutting: a shoot cut just below a leaf node, because the node is where roots form, with the lower leaves removed. Runner: a plantlet already rooting where it touches the ground, severed from the parent only after its own roots have taken. Offset: a young shoot at the base of the parent, separated with its own roots attached. In each case the cut is marked and the part that must be retained is labelled.Divisioncut between crownsroots on every piececut below a nodeStem cuttingroots form at the nodestrip the lower leavesRunnerlet it root firstthen sever the linkOffseta shoot at the basetake its roots with it
The rule is the same in all four: the new piece needs both a growing point and roots of its own. A cutting is the exception that has to make its roots afterwards, which is why the node matters so much.

Is it worth putting under cover?

Whether it will grow there is on the methods table above. This is whether the space is well spent, which is a different question and usually the one being asked.

StructureWhat protection is worthWhat decides it
GreenhouseExtends the season
source

GrowingHQ editorial positionmoderate confidence

What protection is worth for this crop, judged against the same standard as every other record in this file.

  • GrowingHQ editorial synthesis — GrowingHQ

Checked 2026-08-13

Frost tenderness. Sweet marjoram is a tender annual in Britain, so unlike its hardy Mediterranean relatives it genuinely gains a season under cover.The exception in the Mediterranean group, and the reason the group cannot be assessed as a group.
PolytunnelExtends the season
source

GrowingHQ editorial positionmoderate confidence

What protection is worth for this crop, judged against the same standard as every other record in this file.

  • GrowingHQ editorial synthesis — GrowingHQ

Checked 2026-08-13

Frost tenderness.

On a windowsill

Spring to autumn
source

GrowingHQ editorial positionmoderate confidence

How long the crop is actually productive on an ordinary British windowsill without added light.

  • GrowingHQ editorial synthesis — GrowingHQ

Checked 2026-08-13

 Productive from roughly March to October and not after. Growth stops when the light does, and a plant pushed through the dark months usually does not recover. Light. Tender enough that a sill is a genuine option rather than a compromise, and it still stops producing when the light goes.

Growing it without soil

Nearly anything can be grown in a soilless system by somebody with enough equipment. The useful question is whether it is worth it, in which technique, and what goes wrong.

Works with conditions

Succeeds when the conditions listed here are met and fails when they are not. The conditions are the answer, not a caveat.

source

GrowingHQ editorial positionmoderate confidence

The best of the Mediterranean group in a system, because sweet marjoram is grown as a tender annual and harvested young rather than as a woody perennial.

  • GrowingHQ editorial synthesis — GrowingHQ

Checked 2026-08-13

Techniques that suit it

  • Drip-fed mediumSolution is dripped into an inert medium around each plant. The most forgiving technique and the one that suits large, long-season, heavy crops.
  • Ebb and flowA bed of inert medium floods and drains on a timer. The medium holds moisture between floods, which makes it far more tolerant of interruption than NFT.
  • Nutrient film (NFT)A shallow stream of solution runs over bare roots in a sloped channel. Cheap and productive for small fast crops; a pump failure kills a crop within hours because there is no reservoir at the roots.
source

Horticultural consensusmoderate confidence

No external citation — see the evidence type above.

Checked 2026-08-13

Root space
Small.
Lighting
Needs supplementary light
pH band
5.5–6.5
Where these figures come from
Root spaceHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence

No external citation — see the evidence type above.

Checked 2026-08-13

LightingHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence

No external citation — see the evidence type above.

Checked 2026-08-13

pH bandSourced guidancehigh confidence

Outside roughly this band, individual nutrients become unavailable even when they are present in the solution — which is why a crop can starve in a full reservoir.

  • Purdue Extension — Purdue University: Hydroponic solution management — pH

Checked 2026-08-13

What actually goes wrong

  • Warm solution. Above roughly 22 °C the water holds much less dissolved oxygen and root disease follows quickly, which is why summer is harder than winter in an indoor system.
    source

    Sourced guidancemoderate confidence

    • Purdue Extension — Purdue University: Solution temperature and dissolved oxygen

    Checked 2026-08-13

No nutrient recipes here

GrowingHQ records pH bands, which are measurable properties of nutrient availability, and deliberately records no EC or PPM targets and no mixing instructions. Published targets vary by cultivar, growth stage, water source and technique, and the figures that apply to your system are on the product you bought.

Harvesting

  • When it is readyBest just as the knot-like flower buds form and before they open, which is when the oils peak — this is the point to cut a batch for drying. Otherwise pick from the moment the plant has several branching stems, because regular picking is what keeps it from flowering at all.
  • How to pick itCut whole shoot tips rather than stripping single leaves. Marjoram dries very well; hang small bunches somewhere warm and airy out of the sun.
Where the harvest guidance comes from
When it is readySourced guidancehigh confidence
  • Royal Horticultural Society: Marjoram — harvesting

Checked 2026-08-13

How to pick itHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence

No external citation — see the evidence type above.

Checked 2026-08-13

What goes wrong

ProblemHow oftenNotes
Normal end of an annual's lifecommon
source

Horticultural consensusmoderate confidence

No external citation — see the evidence type above.

Checked 2026-08-13

Grown as an annual here, so it ends its year rather than overwintering.
Aphidsoccasional
source

Horticultural consensusmoderate confidence

No external citation — see the evidence type above.

Checked 2026-08-13

Sources for this page

GrowingHQ editorial synthesis · Plant Finder · Royal Horticultural Society

Each figure on this page carries its own citation, under the “where these figures come from” note in its section. Record last reviewed 2026-08-14.