Search site

Stoney Ground Herbs

Beautiful, strong herbs for NZ gardeners and herbalists of all levels

  • Home
  • About
  • Herb plants
    • Basil Mint
    • Bergamot, Scarlet
    • Bergamot, Wild
    • Borage
    • Catnip
    • Chamomile, German
    • Chamomile, Roman
    • Clary Sage
    • Elder, Black
    • Feverfew
    • Lemon Balm
    • Motherwort
    • Mugwort, Chinese
    • Peppermint, Chocolate
    • Peppermint
    • Rue
    • Sage, Common
    • Sage, Purple
    • Self Heal
    • Soapwort
    • Southernwood
    • St John’s Wort
    • Sweet Violet
    • Thyme, creeping
    • White Sage
  • Dried herbs
    • Catnip, Nepeta cataria
    • German Chamomile, Matricaria Recutita
    • Lemon Balm, Melissa officinalis
    • Lemon Verbena, Aloysia citriodora
    • Motherwort, Leonurus cardiaca
    • Nettle (Lesser), Urtica urens
    • Peppermint, Mentha x piperita
    • Sage, Salvia officinalis
    • Self Heal, Prunella vulgaris
    • Yarrow, Achillea millefolium
  • Ordering Your Plants
  • Maramataka Māori
  • Blog
You are here: Home / Care and Maintenance / Cultivating White Sage Smoke Cleansing (“Smudge”) Sticks

Cultivating White Sage Smoke Cleansing (“Smudge”) Sticks

November 2, 2018 By SandRa Timmins Leave a Comment

If you grow white sage you may find at this time of year your plant is getting a bit “leggy”.

White sage flowering wand

‘ello ‘ello ‘ello, what have we here?

The very tall wands that are coming out – if the leaves are tiny at the tip – will flower.  Unless you want to save seed, it’s best to cut this out.

This is what the flowers look like if you’re curious.

Salvia apiana in flower

Salvia apiana in flower

Close up of white sage flower

Close up of white sage flower

You can dry the stem you’ve just cut because the base of it should be fairly bushy.  Dry it whole with the leaves hanging upside down.  If you are drying for the purposes of making a smudge stick, don’t let it dry completely before tying up, wilted really is what you’re after.

White sage pruning tips

On other stems you can tip prune which will encourage more leaves out of the laterals (the bit between the stem and a main leaf) giving you a thicker smudge stick come harvest time.

White sage pruning tips

The laterals are the leaves coming out from between the main stem and leaves

This is what will happen after some time.

White sage pruning tips

Bushing up

The coast of California is where Salvia apiana comes from.  I’ve got a theory that in it’s natural habitat it probably gets blasted by wind and stems breaking is a common occurrence (good news for those that live by the coast).  Because if you have it in a sheltered position and don’t tip prune it at all, particularly in the early days~ this is what happens.  One long plant.

White sage pruning tips

Lone stem ranger

There’s hope yet for these guys though, find the lowest active lateral and trim from there.

White sage pruning tips

Looking for laterals

So don’t be afraid to give your plant a wee trim here and there, now is a good time, whilst there’s plenty of growth action happening you’ll get a stronger plant for it.  Make sure that any pruning you do is on a fine day with another one forecast for the next day.

Dry upside down, out of sunlight.  This picture is blurry (sorry!) but you don’t want them any drier than what it looks here to make your smudge sticks.

Drying white sage

Drying white sage

Here’s a link to making your own smudge sticks using ingredients other than/as well as, White sage.  Please note on what is said about common sage (Salvia officinalis), not to be burnt!

Share this:

  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window)

Related

Filed Under: Care and Maintenance, White sage Tagged With: drying white sage, how to grow white sage smudge sticks, pruning salvia apiana, pruning white sage, what to do with leggy white sage

« Aphids happen to the best of us…
Christmas Deadline »

Share your thoughts! Cancel reply

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Stay up to date with blog posts and announcements here!

You can also follow me on…

  • Facebook
  • Instagram

Beautiful, strong herbs
for gardeners
and herbalists
of all levels.

Grown
with passion
and persistence.

Categories

  • Animals (4)
  • Care and Maintenance (45)
  • Gardening Styles (37)
  • Herbal Lore (20)
  • Herbs in Use (23)
  • Indoor Plants (2)
  • Kokedama (3)
  • Maramataka Māori (13)
  • Moving Gardens/New Gardens (12)
  • Pretty Pictures (16)
  • Recipes (8)
  • SGH updates (40)
  • Tomatoes (11)
  • Uncategorized (28)
  • White sage (9)

Contact/Inquiries

    Your Name (required)

    Your Email (required)

    Your Message

    Friends

    Becoming Healthy Ltd NZ

    Supporting Busy People Becoming Healthy

    · Copyright © 2022 · Great websites for great ideas - Help Me Net NZ ·