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Easy Tips To Keep Your Garden's Bee Balm Under Control
By KATE NICHOLSON
Bee balm can help attract pollinators and deter pests and deer. However, it can also quickly take over a garden bed and outcompete its neighbors for resources.
These perennials can stretch out as far as two to three feet away, grow up to four feet high, and possess the ability to thrive even in the harshest conditions.
To stop bee balm from encroaching on neighboring greenery, dig it up and divide it seasonally. Start by digging up the entire plant and cutting out the growing sections.
Make sure each section has some roots attached to it. Next, discard or compost the dead center of the mother plant before replanting — aim to do this in either spring or fall.
Alternatively, grow bee balm in a patio planter or containers buried in your garden beds. You can also use fences or grow them at the back of an already crowded pollinator garden.
According to garden educator Donna L. Long, planting bee balm “in a garden bed with barriers of cobblestones and cement,” and keeping the soil dry are also great solutions.