How to grow oregano

Oregano is a low, spreading perennial herb grown for its small, intensely aromatic leaves, a fixture of the kitchen garden for tomato sauces, pizza, and grilled meats. Native to dry, rocky ground, it tolerates poor soil, drought, and neglect once established, and a single planting can keep producing for years without replacement. Because it is a perennial, it occupies a permanent spot near the edge of a bed rather than rotating with the season's vegetables, and the same plants can be sheared back and harvested repeatedly from late spring through fall.

The hardest part of growing oregano well is resisting the urge to treat it like the vegetable garden. North Carolina State Extension notes that oregano needs good drainage and is prone to root rot in wet, poorly drained soil. A second-year gardener who plants it in an amended, well-watered bed alongside tomatoes and basil, following the same watering schedule that keeps those crops thriving, is giving it conditions closer to what kills it than what it needs. The roots sit wet, rot sets in below the soil line, and the plant collapses seemingly overnight even though the top growth looked healthy days before.