I grow basil every year and it has so many uses, I wanted to share it next in my herb series before it dies off in the first frost. A couple of basil bushes in my garden this summer How does Basil grow? Every summer I grow some basil. I know some people who can just sprinkle around some basil seeds and end up with more basil than they can use. Not so in my garden. I have to coax basil out of the ground. It takes a long time (weeks!) to get to a decent size. This year I didn't manage to raise any from seed despite several tries, so all I have in the garden is a plant that my mother in law grew and one I bought from the market. One year I grew basil and I didn't pick it enough, it just grew two long stalks about 1 m tall. Since then I have learnt to nip off the growing points so that it forms more of a bush. If it starts to flower too early, you can just pick all the flowers, otherwise, let it go to seed and you might have more success ...