Calling all Greenfingered Types - Herbs?

[Demented]

Just wondering if anyone can help me here. We are moving house very soon and will have a bit of a garden, DH and I not being very greenfingered do not have many elaborate plans for the garden mainly it will be a play area for the kids and a place to dry washing (when it is not raining).

At the moment in our flat I grow a few herbs, thyme, parsley and mint (although for some reason this has died) outside in a window box and basil and coriander inside. When we move I would like to grow more herbs and wondered if anyone had any tips they could pass on. As there isn't a great range of growing herbs in my local supermarket can you buy them in seed form? If so what do you do with them? Do you start them off indoors? What time of year should I be planting things? Which are the really good hardy herbs that keep growing every year?

Sorry, sounds like alot of questions, any info would be appreciated as I am very much a gardening novice.

TIA!

[Manfwood]

Can't give that much advice but have grown a few - best bet is to buy then in pots from a garden centre as they are meant to be grown outside (whereas supermarket ones are for inside). Then you could also quiz some of the garden centre staff. One bit of advice is if you are going to grow mint leave it in a pot as it is very invasive and will grow everywhere - you have been warned. I tried growing basil and coriander outside but they both died. Have done OK with chives and rosemary - think still have some parsley but the slugs had a go at it.

Good luck

[Bozza]

You could always sink the mint pot into the ground if you wanted to.

[Scuba]

I grow a lot of herbs for personal use. At the moment most are in containers. You should find that most florish in the garden or containers. If you grow them in containers try to group ones that like similar conditions together. Eg thyme, sage, oregano like sun where as parsley, mint and chives do well in some shade. You could still plant thyme, parsley, rosemary, mint and sage but herbs such basil and coriander are a bit late to do now. I wouldn't generally recommend supermarket herbs for planting as these have been grown under sheltered conditions are unlikely to survive (although I do have 2 exceptions still thriving). I have either sown the plants myself or I would strongly recommend you visit a nursey and buy small ready cultivated plants - both these methods depend on the time of the year and availablity. I personally keep the following in their own containers they have a tendency to grow a bit mad ie mint, lemon balm, chives. There are lots of other plants/herbs with edible flowers, leaves and stalks too. Hope this is useful.

[Enid]

We grow coriander and flat leaved parsley from seed in our veg patch, they grow brilliantly and quickly most of the year. At the beginning of the summer I buy 3 basil plants from the supermarket and plant them in a tub, they last all summer - still going!

You can get most herbs in pots from a garden centre - rosemary is a good one as you don't have to replace it every year (I do with most of our other herbs). We've also got oregano (from the garden centre), mint (from a cutting), lemon thyme and chervil (not very useful, but pretty!).

[Twink]

I've got a patch about 1m x 2m which I use for herbs. Almost all started as small plants from the garden centre (or mail order from Jekka's herb farm) but some I grew from seed.

At the moment I've got rosemary, about 6 different thymes (I like the flowers and so do the bees), oregano, marjoram, mint (in a pot sunk into the ground as Bozza suggested), sorrel, french sorrel (gets a bit out of control but has a great flavour), purple sage (just because it's prettier than standard, tastes the same), borage (pretty flowering annual but self-seeds like mad - maybe I should admit to my Pimms habit on the alcohol thread..), dill, bronze fennel (don't grow near each other as they cross-pollinate and the offspring are neither), coriander (although it runs to seed like mad - tips please Enid) and lemon balm.

I also have tubs with lemon grass, basil and chillies so I can move them if frost is likely. I think basil and the chillies are supposed to be annuals but I've managed to over-winter them 2 years running.

Sorry, a bit long-winded !

[ionesmum]

I love herbs, we have a herb garden growing plants from the 18th century. I agree that grouping herbs together in pots by type is a good idea. I couldn't do without thyme, marjoram, sage and rosemary, all of which can be grown together although rosemary and sage will take up a bit of space if you let them get large. Mint should have a big pot of its own, I use big wooden tubs and have one of peppermint and one of spearmint either side of the back door. Other good herbs are savory (cook with beans to reduce windiness), smallage (also known as celery leaf), lovage (similar to smallage but bigger and perennial - nice for soup) and salad burnet - perennial, self-seeds,tastes like cucumber and good for sandwiches. You will probably find the shrubby herbs at the garden centre now for planting but the herbaceous and annual/biannuals will be available in the spring. If you do plant anything now and the nights are frosty water them in with warm rather than cold water esp. the mediterranean varieties.

[oxocube]

Ionesmum, so glad you haven't left

[ionesmum]

Thanks, oxocube! Although I will admit that I'm sticking to safe subjects!

[jodee]

Welcome back, Ionesmum!

[sis]

demented, if you decide to grow bay and/or rosemary in a pot, I'd advise that you move them to be next to a nice warm house wall in winter as I lost both of them in my first attempt to grow them - and we live in relatively warm London!

[ionesmum]

Jodee

[Demented]

Thanks to everyone for all the advice and tips. This is great, I will get down to the garden centre once we have moved and pick up a few things, I alway wondered why the plants bought from the supermarket didn't last very well.

You all sound like you have great gardens, this is going to be a real challenge for me (apart from the herbs I have no houseplants as I always manage to kill them). I just love fresh herbs but hate paying a fortune for them in the supermarket, I can't wait to get started.

Thanks again to everyone!