Growing Mugwort: A Complete Profile

By Growing Home Greens Team · August 20, 2026

Mugwort has a long history in cooking and herbal medicine, and it is one of the more difficult plants to have in a garden.

Read this before planting it

The toolbox tags it a perennial weed, notes it is considered an invasive weed in some areas of the country, and records that it spreads aggressively by rhizome with high maintenance required to control it.

Rhizome spread is the problem. Pulling the tops does nothing; every fragment of root left behind starts again. Two to four feet tall and three to six feet across is the size it reaches, and it keeps going outward from there.

If you grow it, contain it

A sunk container with a solid base, or a spot bounded by hard edges on all sides, are the only approaches that hold. Check yearly for runners escaping underneath. An open raised bed is not containment.

What it is for

The leaves are aromatic and bitter, used traditionally in cooking fatty meats and in tea. It is hardy zones 3 through 8 in full sun to partial shade and grows in almost any soil, which is exactly why it is a problem.

Source: NC State Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox, Artemisia vulgaris.

Companion planting guide for Mugwort · Find your planting dates

Typically viable in USDA zones 3-8. Not sure your zone? Look it up by ZIP code.

Method: Direct sow: Direct-sow outside. Mugwort doesn't transplant well, or doesn't need the extra time indoors.

See exact start-indoors, direct-sow, and harvest dates for your zone →

How many Mugwort plants fit per square foot?

Spacing: about 4 square feet per plant (square-foot-gardening spacing). Mature height: 2-4 ft.

Where to buy mugwort seeds

• Botanical Interests
• True Leaf Market
• Burpee
• High Mowing Organic Seeds

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See it growing

Search YouTube for "growing mugwort" videos → (a live search, not a hand-picked video; results vary and aren't vetted by us)

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Growing Mugwort: An aromatic herb that NC State Extension classes as an invasive weed, and that spreads underground faster than you can pull it.

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