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Advice on growing herbs outside, PLEASE???

16 replies

PlumBumMum · 16/04/2009 19:12

I have made a bed around my patio and I am planning on growing some herbs and mixed salad leaves in it.

Last year I planted out some corriander in my veg patch (it was half dead) but it did not survive, chives did really well

So what herbs are best to grow outside, and will it be okay to plant some flowers amongst them

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IotasCat · 16/04/2009 19:16

Rosemary sage and thyme all grow well outside and are nice and bushy

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PlumBumMum · 16/04/2009 19:21

Thanks Iotascat, those are 3 I completely forgot about

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midnightexpress · 16/04/2009 19:23

Chives are perennial so will come back again if you leave them.

I'm quite far north and have parsley doing quite nicely outside at the moment (from seed). I've put some of them in a window box with nasturtiums.

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mollyroger · 16/04/2009 19:27

corriander, basil, chervil etc will only last the season so need to planbt new seeds each year.
Thyme, sage, rosemary, oregano, mint etc all more shrubby so will grow all year round. However, it's a good idea to plant them in pots or they will take over your patch. Lavendar etc nice with some culinary uses, also look at myrtle (leaves good with pork), pretty white flowers) and bay, Hyssop is good fro attracting bees and has pretty little flowers, and Savoury (leaves great with chicken)
I have some herbs in pots outside my back door (all grow in pots) and a huge herby patch on my allotment which is mixed with flowering herbs like borrage, lemon balm, curry plant, salad burnett and chamomile.
Grow the shrubby ones at the back and the 'afot' ones like basil, corriander etc at the front, with mixed salad leaves.

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PlumBumMum · 16/04/2009 19:27

Grew loads of parsle last year have bags in the freezer

Had my chives in veg patch which needs reorganising so I am going to plant them in this new bed, but do you have to cut the whole plant back every now and again as my last one I let get really tall and they ended up more like scallions

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PlumBumMum · 16/04/2009 19:33

Great mollyroger, I have a seperate vegetable patch, so thats a brilliant list I wouldn't need to bother with flowers then?

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mankymummy · 16/04/2009 19:34

where are you? how much sun/wind/rain does the plot get?

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mollyroger · 16/04/2009 19:37

sorry, that last sentence should read 'soft'....lord knows what I was thinking!

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mollyroger · 16/04/2009 19:40

oh, should also add that I am in yorks, and not very sheltered and everything still grows!

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PlumBumMum · 16/04/2009 19:42

I'm in N Ireland, so thats quite alot of rain,
we are on top of the bloomin mountain so v windy but dh has spent Easter putting a fence around patio to creat a little sun trap

The wider bed will prob get most of the sun all day
and a long narrow bed no sun from late afternoon, but sun from first thing in the morning

But last year my vegetable patch did survive the wind (when my farmer friend didn't think it would)

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mollyroger · 16/04/2009 19:45

well, I also grow things like ecchinacea and calendula which have lovely flowers but can also be used in a medicinal/culinary way.
But rosemary, lemon balm, hyssop, mrytle, thyme, salad burnet, curry plant, oregano, pennyroyal, borage, all have pretty little flowers.

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midnightexpress · 16/04/2009 21:36

plum bum i'm in Glasgow, also on top of a hill and v windy, but have both rosemary and lavender growing happily in pots in my courtyard, plus parsley. Thyme didn't do so well.

If you do mint, keep it in a pot (you could plunge the pot into your bed if you want, as it's very invasive.

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Cathpot · 16/04/2009 21:44

Coriander does not like being moved, you need to plant it where you want it to grow.

If it goes to seed (the leaves stop tasting good at this point), then let it go brown, pull it and hang the bunches upside down in a paper bag, seeds will dry and fall off. You can cook with them or plant them.

If you grow mint, keep the different types well away from each other or they will all end up tasting the same.

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Cathpot · 16/04/2009 21:44

Sorry I mean 'plant the seeds where you want it to go'

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PlumBumMum · 17/04/2009 08:07

Thankyou everyone hope to try and sort it over the weekend

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MadameCastafiore · 17/04/2009 08:13

We have sage, mint, lavender, rosemary and chives in our little herb garden and they are all thriving.

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