Self-heal

Self-heal: how do you recognise it?

Habit

Low, creeping to ascending plant 10–20 cm tall, with rooting runners; forms a mat about 30 cm across.

Leaves

Opposite, oval to lance-shaped, 2–5 cm, untoothed or slightly toothed, a little hairy.

Stem

Square, like most members of the mint family, often tinged purple.

Flower

Blue-violet, lipped flowers 1–1.5 cm long in short, dense spikes of 2–4 cm with purplish-brown bracts, from June to September.

Fruit

After flowering, brown spikes remain, holding small nutlets.

Flowering: June–September · Sowing: March–April and September · Plants: March–May and September–October · Pruning: March and September

Why grow it?

• Blue-violet flower spikes from June to September, a long flowering season.
• Bumblebees and bees collect nectar; butterflies visit the flowers too.
• It tolerates mowing and trampling: ideal for a flowering lawn.
• An easy ground cover for sun and partial shade, also in moist soil.
• Native, hardy and easy to sow.

Self-heal: where does it grow best?

• Sun or partial shade; it flowers best in sun.
• Almost any soil: sand, loam, clay or peat, acid to chalky.
• Moderately moist to moist; it copes less well with long droughts.
• Plant 25–30 cm apart for a mat that closes quickly, or sow it in a lawn or meadow.

Light

Sun and partial shade

Soil type

Sand, loam, clay or peat

Acidity

Not fussy

Moisture

Normal or wet

Size

0.2 m tall, 0.3 m wide

Hardiness

Hardy (to -30 °C)

Goes well with

• Bird’s-foot trefoil: Yellow flowers in the same flowering lawn, also excellent for bees.
• Daisy: Small white flowers that also tolerate a closely mown lawn.
• Bugle: Blue spikes in April–May, before the self-heal starts flowering.
• Cuckooflower: Lilac flowers in April–May in a damp lawn.

Self-heal: when and how to plant it?

Plant in March–May and September–October.

1. Plant from March to May or in September–October; sow in March–April or in September.
2. Weed and loosen the soil; in a lawn, lift a small plug of turf or sow into bare patches.
3. Plant at the same depth as in the pot and firm the soil.
4. Leave 25–30 cm between plants.
5. Sow thinly and barely cover the seed.
6. Water in and keep the soil moist until the plants or seedlings have established.

Care

Water

Only during long dry spells, especially in the first year.

Feeding

Not needed; in a lawn, fertiliser mainly feeds the grass.

Mowing

In a flowering lawn it thrives if you mow every three to four weeks; it then flowers on short stems.

Deadheading

In a border, remove faded spikes for a longer display and fewer seedlings.

Keeping in check

If it creeps among other plants in a border, pull out the runners.

Tip: Sow it in spring or autumn with other wild flowers in your lawn, and mow a little higher and less often: it will then flower all summer among the grass.

Self-heal: when to prune it?

Pruning months: March and September.

When: It hardly needs pruning. In September, cut off faded spikes in a border if you do not want seedlings, and in March, clear away dead stems.

How:

• Cut faded spikes just above a pair of leaves; in summer this often brings new spikes.
• Leave a few spikes if you want it to self-seed.
• In March, clear away the withered stems; the leaf rosettes stay.
• In a lawn, normal mowing is enough.

Pruning: when and how · Pruning calendar and basic rules

Propagation

Division

In March–April or in September, cut a rooted piece from the mat and replant it elsewhere.

Seed

Sow where it is to grow in March–April or in September, barely covering the seed. It also self-seeds.

Runners

Throughout the growing season you can snip off rooted runners and replant them.

Self-heal: how does it get through the winter?

Hardy to −30 °C.

• Hardy, to about −30 °C: no protection needed.
• In mild winters the leaf rosettes partly stay green.
• In a meadow or on a bank, leave some faded spikes as shelter for insects.

Diseases and pests

• Powdery mildew: White powder on the leaves in dry weather in late summer. Water during drought and cut off affected stems.
• Seedlings: It self-seeds readily in borders. Cut off faded spikes in good time.
• Slugs: Young leaves are eaten in spring. Usually harmless: the plant soon regrows.
• Parched lawn: In a dry, sunny lawn it shrivels in hot summers; after rain it usually grows back.

Through the year

• March: Clear away dead stems. Sow or plant.
• April: Sow or plant. The rosettes start growing.
• May: Still time to plant. Do not mow the lawn too short.
• June: First blue-violet spikes. Bumblebees on the flowers.
• July: Full flower. Remove faded spikes in the border.
• August: Flowering. Water during long droughts.
• September: Last flowers. Cut off faded spikes. Sow or plant.
• October: Plant or divide.

Good for wildlife

Bees

Nectar and pollen for honeybees and wild bees.

Butterflies

Nectar for butterflies.

Did you know?

• In a closely mown lawn it adapts by producing flower spikes on stems only a few centimetres tall.
• The upper lip of the flower forms a hood over the stamens, so a bumblebee picks up pollen on its back at every visit.
• As in all members of the mint family, each flower forms four small nutlets.