Benefits of Growing Lemon Grass
Cultivating a plant that is a joy as an aesthetic garden plant, used to create delicious culinary dishes, invaluable as an aromatherapy aid and possesses medical properties seems too farfetched to be true; yet growing lemon grass offers exactly these benefits.
A plant that has been used extensively in Indian, Asian, Vietnamese and Thai cooking, lemon grass strikes some people as being too difficult and temperamental to grow in an ordinary home herb garden. It is a warm climate plant, but that fact does not mean that it cannot be grown in gardens of the cooler northern regions. It simply is adapted in the manner in which it is grown. A perennial plant in USDA Zone 9, lemon grass will return year are year; growing taller and stronger each successive year until it finally reaches heights of up to 9 or 10 feet if allowed. While it cannot achieve such grand results in cooler zones, the plant can certainly still be grown effectively in containers; extending up to three feet in height. During the warm summer months that the northern regions experience, lemon grass thrives in the hot sun with adequate watering. As cold weather approaches, the plant must be moved indoors and placed near a window that receives a good amount of sun.
Lemon grass plants feature slender leaves that possess a grass like quality which are a greenish gray in color. Growing tall, the slightly abrasive stalks bow gracefully about two to three inches from the tapered tips; providing a willowy appearance that is attractive in garden beds. Zone 9 gardens will find the best placement of these reedy grasses at the rear of the garden where they can provide a good backdrop for shorter and more colorful plants. Growing lemon grass in the cooler zone gardens will alter the positioning of the mid-sized plants to the middle of the bed where it can accent comparative sized or shorter plantings.
Though the grass is lovely as a garden plant, it has much more than beauty to offer in the kitchen. Its lemony fragrance and flavor makes this herb a highly desirable culinary additive to many cultural dishes. Many uses have been developed for this herb. The green stalks should be separated from the white bulb portion of the lemon grass, but not discarded. To impart the citrusy taste to food, the stalks can be beaten with a mallet to bruise then used as a basting brush for meats. They can also be wrapped around foods or added to stocks. It is the white bulb of the lemon grass that is the true prize, however. Sliced or minced, lemon grass is used in a wide variety of recipes to bring a lemony zest to chicken, fish or beef.
Lemon grass oil used in aromatherapy can be a revitalizing and refreshing element. The scent of the citrus in the plant awakens the fatigued mind after a long day’s work, and is also valuable to use as a pick-me-up cure for jet lag and anxiety. Stress headaches can often be relieved by inhaling the fresh aroma of lemon grass.
Many garden herbs provide beneficial medical properties, and growing lemon grass is no exception. Recognized as an anti-depressant, antiseptic, bactericidal, diuretic, insecticidal, fungicidal, astringent and more, lemon grass can be used in a variety of health issues. One drawback is that it can be irritating to the skin, and should be used minimally to avoid this side effect. Your pets will even benefit from the grass’s properties, as it repels fleas, lice and ticks.
While all herbs have wonderful benefits, lemon grass takes usefulness even further. Great for aesthetic value, culinary uses, aromatherapy importance and medical advantages, lemon grass is an ultimate herb addition.