Pruning An Oregano Plant: A Perennial Herb With Soft Woody Stems

Oregano is a popular herb known for its flavorful leaves that are commonly used in Mediterranean cuisine. This perennial herb with soft woody stems requires regular pruning to maintain its health and productivity. Let’s go over the steps to prune an oregano plant, as well as provide tips on how to properly trim and care for this versatile herb in your garden or indoor space.

When my neighbor asked me to prune her oregano cascading out of a large terra cotta pot, I said “heck yeah”. Not only do I love pruning (my nickname was “Prunella” years ago!) but I was also lending Mary a hand.  She hadn’t pruned this herb since it was planted over 2 years ago – oh my.  Time for the overdue pruning of an oregano plant so all that tender new growth can appear as the weather warms.

Herbs like lavender or thyme have harder woody stems. Oregano is like mint in that it has softer woody stems.   Those old stems will eventually get woody over time and the plant becomes quite dense making it harder for the new growth to appear in spring and summer. I prune my mojito mint in the same way – out with the old and in with the new.

When To Prune Oregano

Oregano is a perennial herb in USDA zones 5 and higher. In lower zones, it’s grown as an annual.

I live in Tucson, AZ & did this pruning towards the end of January. In colder climates it’s best to wait until spring when the danger of a freeze has passed. You don’t want to force out all that new growth & then have it hit.

I grew up in Connecticut where we left the oregano be in fall & threw some hay over it for protection. We removed the hay in spring & did the big pruning.

Oregano grows fast & benefits from a mid-season pruning right after flowering. That’ll stimulate even more of that tasty new growth.

How To Prune Oregano

This isn’t 1 of those finesse pruning jobs. You’re basically chopping off all the old growth to make way for the new.

Make sure your pruners are clean & sharp. It’ll make the job so much easier. I used 2 pruners – Felcos for the big pruning & my Fiskar Floral Snips for the “finesse” work at the end.

I made my way around the plant cutting it all the way back to 2-3″. That’s when you can really start to see the new growth that’s hiding underneath if your oregano is as dense as this 1. Yes, it’s what you call a hard pruning but this is what your oregano really needs.

The 2nd much lighter pruning was to remove some of those dead woody stems & leggy softer stems. I like to do this because it makes the plant look a little better. You can skip this step if you’d like but I prefer to clean things up as much as possible. Let’s be real, your oregano isn’t pretty at this point & will look like it’s been scalped for a month or so!

Good To Know

• You prune oregano in this same manner whether it’s in a pot or in the ground.
• Oregano loves the heat & will come back fast once the weather starts to warm.

You want to do this pruning (especially if your oregano is overgrown like this 1) to encourage all that new growth. The newer leaves have a better flavor than the older, tougher ones.

Don’t be timid about this. You want to expose the new growth to sunlight & air. The oregano you see here was so thick that the new growth would have had a very hard time growing through it.

Like my mint, I’ll apply about 1″ of worm compost (this is my favorite amendment, which I use sparingly because it’s rich) & 2-3″ of compost on the very top in a month or so. This will be the feeding of these herbs for the entire season.

I must admit, I’ll reap the benefits of this pruning as much as Mary. She lets me harvest stems of her oregano and basil whenever I like. With all that oregano I pruned off, I see lots of batches of marinara sauce coming right up!

Happy gardening,

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