Hyssop is a strong-flavoured aromatic herb similar to rosemary or lavender which is enjoying a revival with home gardeners. An ideal plant for use in containers or as a low hedge or border within the herb garden.
Young leaves are used chopped and scattered on salads, sprinkled on meat or oily fish dishes or used to flavour soups, stews and fruit dishes. They should be used sparingly as the flavour is very strong.

Tea is brewed using the green tops of the plant. The infusion has an agreeable flavour and is said to help aid digestion of fatty or rich food. It is also excellent for chesty coughs. Externally it can be applied to bruises, to reduce the swelling and discolouration. The essential oil is an antiseptic.
Hyssop is also used as an ingredient in Eau de Cologne, and in the distillation of liqueurs, such as Chartreuse. It is widely used as a “taste enhancing” herb in Absinthe, along with Wormwood, Fennel, and Anise.

Hyssop famously attracts bees, hover-flies and butterflies; it makes excellent honey and is a must for any wildflower garden. Some beekeepers rub the hive with it to encourage the bees to keep to their home.
They succeed best in a warm aspect and in a light, rather dry soil. The plants require cutting in, occasionally, but do not need much further attention.

Sowing: Sow indoors March to April or sow directly outdoors in May to June

Sowing Indoors:
Sow in separate 7cm (3in) pots containing well drained soil and cover with 5mm (1/4in) of compost. Seeds will germinate in 14 to 21 days.
Transplant outdoors after the last frosts. Set plants 30 to 45cm (12 to 18in) apart. Keep well watered till established.
Sowing Direct:
Sow in drills, then thin the plants to 45cm (18in) spacing. Keep well watered till established.
Prior to planting work in plenty of organic matter, such as compost, or aged animal manure. It is also helpful to add a light application of organic fertiliser to the planting hole. Hyssop grows equally well in containers.

Cultivation:
Hyssop should be grown in full sun on well drained soil, and will benefit from occasional clipping. Pruning to the first set of leaves after flowering will create a more compact plant and better flowering in the following year.
It is a short-lived plant, and will need to be replaced every few years.

Harvesting:
Use the youngest leaves and stems as needed. Cut in the morning after the dew has dried for optimal flavour.
Do not wash the leaves or aromatic oils will be lost. Hyssop is best used fresh but can also be stored frozen in plastic bags or dried.
To dry, tie the cuttings in small bunches and hang upside down in a well-ventilated, dark room. Hyssop leaves should dry out in about six days, any longer and they will begin to discolour and lose their flavour. The dried leaves are stored in clean, dry, labelled airtight containers, and will keep for 12 to 18 months. When dried, remove the leaves from the stems and store whole. Crush or grind just before use.

Companion planting:
Hyssop is a good companion plant to cabbage, partly because it will lure away the Cabbage White butterfly, and according to Dorothy Hall (The Book Of Herbs, Pan 1972) has also "been found to improve the yield from grapevines if planted along the rows, particularly if the terrain is rocky or sandy, and the soil is not as easy to work as it might be". However hyssop is said to be antagonistic to radishes, and they should not be grown nearby. It is not as invasive as other members of the mint family making it safer for interplanting.

Nomenclature:
The name hyssop can be traced back almost unchanged through the Greek hyssopos and Hebrew esob meaning 'holy herb.' It is uncertain that Hyssopus officinalis is the same 'hyssop' referred to in the scriptures Scriptures (1 Kings 4.33; Ps. 51.7; John 19.29), however it was once regarded as a symbol of purification and as such was used in the ritual cleansing of churches, it was often planted in monastery gardens and was used in religious painting to symbolise humility.
Because of its bushy nature it was often used as a hedge in herb gardens and even in mazes. In the seventeenth century, it was used as a strewing herb in sick rooms, to deter the spread of infection and to cleanse lepers, as noted in the scriptures.
For centuries it was used as a medicinal herb against coughs and catarrh. And it was part of an old English country remedy for cuts and wounds suffered working in the fields where a poultice of bruised hyssop leaves and sugar was used in order to reduce the risk of tetanus infection. Where Hyssop was at one time official in some pharmacopoeias of Europe it is now grown mostly as an ornamental shrub.