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Find tips and tricks to make your garden or allotment flourish on our Gardening forum.

Original poster

Idiots guide to herbs in big outdoor pots

114 replies

Flingingmelon · 14/04/2015 12:02

I live in the SE and my garden gets plenty of sun. I'd like two or three big pots that I can grow herbs in.

I eat a lot of thyme, parsley, coriander and rosemary and a little bit of sage, basil, mint, and tarragon. Would they all grow well together? What sort of percentage space should I be giving each plant?

Can someone point me in the right direction of a how to guide or give me some tips here?

I'm clueless but enthusiastic Smile

OP posts:
Original poster
Flingingmelon · 15/04/2015 11:56

My project is going to be amazing at this rate, with all this info.

Also where else can I dump coffee grounds? DH produces a virtual never ending supply...

OP posts:
bunchoffives · 15/04/2015 12:10

Stevia is S American I think. More info here

I haven't had much luck with it. It likes to be in the ground (full sun) but is not at all hardy so you have to dig it up and overwinter each year. Bit of a faff compared to most other herbs which like being neglected.

Coffee grounds - start a compost heap or bin and add them to that with vegetable waste, brown paper etc. Nothing better than your own organic compost for growing your own grub.

Shame about the juniper Ivory Grin Actually, it does seem to be more widely available to buy now than last time I looked.

anonymice · 15/04/2015 12:15

Has anyone got a golden hop? My Mum has a lovely one (though prickly) which grows up a trellis, but I managed to kill mine last year. They are meant to be good for helping sleep - you can make a hop pillow. That's my ambition for my little herb garden this summer....

KatKyn · 15/04/2015 12:31

All the good tips have been given but I do have one for those with greenhouses, I always grow basil in the greenhouse to help with the aphid problem as it deters them. I've found that if I plant a bunch into a large pot and hide it away from the sun that it positively abounds with enthusiasm at the hot, moist, shady conditions and thrives with huge leaves. Direct sunlight seems to stunt it somehow. I live in the SE and have a south facing greenhouse.

To the OP, you have to experiment a bit with herbs as you'll find that you won't use them all and some are much harder work than others. Beware the self seeders if you aren't a keen gardener as you'll find for instance that borage takes over and although initially pretty, becomes ugly as it dies away - easy to get rid of though. Calendula, left to seed, should reseed very well although after about five years might need to be re-started.

I have a huge pot containing sage and majoram. They die back every year and regrow. The sage is thuggish but they seem to co-exist very well. I never feed but occasionally throw in some new compost and prune.

Good luck with growing, it's lovely to be able to pop into the garden for herbs for the Sunday roast.

Aridane · 15/04/2015 12:38

For what it's worth, I have never managed very well with rosemary in a pot - shame, as it's probably one of my favourite herbs. If anyone can suggest how I can overcome this, let me know - or maybe I should give up on this and recognise it's happier in the open groun.

Bay obviously does well in pots.

I'm told that it's best to avoid the supermarket potted herbs and get ones from a garden centre.

33goingon64 · 15/04/2015 12:41

Is it the right time to plant herbs out now or should I wait til late May or June (sure I've been warned in past about late frosts).

PJsAreDaywear · 15/04/2015 12:47

Another warning for Lemon Balm - I had a load growing wild in the garden, it takes over, but it smells gorgeous. Nice for filling in an area that needs filling, and good to have it somewhere you walk past so you get the smell.

I tried making tea out of it once... wouldn't recommend it!

DayLillie · 15/04/2015 12:57

Thanks for the basil tip, Katkyn - I have never been successful with it so will try putting it under the bench. I saw one in a pot in a café garden in Italy - it was massive and bushy Envy and they used it in the toasties.

IvoryMadonna · 15/04/2015 12:57

Now I like lemon balm tea, very refreshing. I add just a little honey to sweeten it.

As for supermarket herbs - this is how I've grown parsley for years with no problem! Just buy a large pot, split the contents into 2 or 3 sections and replant, watering well. It works for me either replanted in a bigger container, or in the ground.

MiaowTheCat · 15/04/2015 13:11

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Aridane · 15/04/2015 13:30

killing mint, MiaowThe Cat - I have done that too - even though it is supposed to be rampant and robust. However, for some reason I have perennial parsley that is unkillable - probably only because I don't like the curly leafed stuff - and which flowers each year.

NutellaOnCrumpets · 15/04/2015 13:56

I started off some herb seeds a week ago and they've just started to shoot. Growing coriander, thyme and dill. In mini pots on windowsills at the moment, will plant out in pots once risk of frost has gone.

Had a rosemary plant already in the ground when I moved in. Have a basil plant which came on my Asda delivery as a substitute for just a small bag of cut basil, going to keep this on windowsill in kitchen and hope it survives - love love love basil. Need to resist watering once all water in the sauce has gone which I have a tendency to do they don't like it!

After reading this thread I'm now going to plant some more coriander seeds if the first ones bolt like they did last year, and make sure I move pot into a shadier place in garden! Also grow some oregano if the bees like it, our bees need all the help they can get!

EeekEeekEeekEeek · 15/04/2015 14:56

Re rosemary and clay soil, I have soil you could make plates out of and four stonking rosemary bushes growing in it.

No idea why! But if you've got clay soil and rosemary that's looking sad in pots, I'd try popping it in the ground with a bit of organic material and seeing how it does. As long as it's in full sun I reckon it'd be fine.

EeekEeekEeekEeek · 15/04/2015 15:14

I wouldn't bother myself with buying supermarket pots and dividing, they tend to be very tender and a bit wimpy. I think you get much healthier and tougher plants from seed or from a nursery. I've bought lots of little perennial plants from Norfolk Herbs, online, and their stuff's been unfailingly good quality. Only a few quid per pot as well, so not much more than the supermarket.

Others I've - ahem - 'borrowed' as cuttings or little self-seeded plants. Lemonbalm and mint couldn't be easier (more a question of containing them than encouraging them!) My enormous sage and rosemary bushes also started life as cuttings from plants in a public garden. It's free, though you do need patience. Don't bother with bay though, cuttings take up to a year to root and life's just too short.

If you know somewhere with lots of big perennial herbs, have a look around under them to see if you can find any little plants that have seeded from last year. If there are some, and no-one minds you taking them, you're sorted!

I'd recommend winter savoury - thyme-like flavour, but I find it grows much more vigorously than thyme so you can use plenty of it. Especially good in the winter months for stews etc.

One thing I'd say to someone starting out with herbs is - don't be tempted to cut and eat them until they're good and strong, and plant LOTS. I've seen many people plant tiny little parsley plugs and kill them within weeks by cutting them for dinners. If you can, get seed for the soft annual herbs (parsley, coriander, basil) and sow big pots or beds. Leave the perennials like sage and rosemary until they're big enough to survive having bits lopped off. Then you'll have a good supply for years!

maizieD · 15/04/2015 15:26

I have clay soil and couldn't keep rosemary plants alive for more than on season. Then I dug up a small patch of grass that was really fiddly to mow and put down a couple of inches of pea gravel (a least a ton on an area about 2m x 2m). A rosemary planted through the gravel has lasted about 15 years (it's just on its last legs now). Be warned though, gravel is a perfect seed medium, everything germinates with great enthusiasm in it.

I used to grow a mint just for its scent alone; it was then called 'eau de cologne' mint (think it's changed its name now). Planted beside a path you only had to brush against the plant for the most gorgeous scent to waft into the air.

Basil indoors attracts whitefly like crazy from absolutely nowhere! I can't grow it outside so I just buy supermarket plants and cut from them; freeze the surplus chopped up in icecubes.

SprungHasSpring · 15/04/2015 17:04

I have two big rosemary bushes in heavy clay soil, defying all the rules. However both are at the base of apple trees so I imagine that the trees take the lion's share of the nutrients and moisture from the soil.

Idiots guide to herbs in big outdoor pots
CruCru · 15/04/2015 17:12

I thought of this thread today. I was in Sutton house (NT house in Hackney) and they've got herbs growing in pots.

mathanxiety · 15/04/2015 17:26

Great advice here, and thanks to all.

I have a nice patio that gets afternoon sun. I have so far managed to grow rosemary and thyme together in a large rectangular pot but introduced mint to the pot last summer. It lasted over the winter and seems to be coming up nicely, but as a pp mentioned, it is a bit of t thug and intent on taking over. I think the solution will be to remove the rosemary to a separate pot of its own and let the mint duke it out with the thyme.

I would love to be better at keeping basil from getting all stalky and bolting. Where should I clip the stalks for maximum leafiness? I used to pinch off flower buds but heard that wasn't enough (and it wasn't).

redshoeblueshoe · 15/04/2015 17:33

How lovely that the only thug on this thread is the mint Grin

VeryPunny · 15/04/2015 17:38

I want to grow chives for the herbs as well as for the flowers, but cannot get any to germinate for the life of me? Any tips?

Jux · 15/04/2015 17:50

Anonymice, dh has one in a pot. A friend propagated it for his birthday some years ago. As it's in a pot, it doesn't grow too big; it dies back every year and then springs up again.

Hoppickers used to have to work in 3s so they could catch each other when they fell asleep. We made a hop pillow for my mum when she had trouble sleeping towards her end, and now dd uses it sometimes. You can buy hops like lavendar, and use them for stuffing. We have a coffee bean and tea leaf shop which also has hops for brewing and they're fine for stuffing pillows.

I really really really want to grow angelica. It's so hard to find it preserved nowadays I fancy making my own.

CruCru · 15/04/2015 18:46

VeryPunny - Id just buy the plant from a garden centre. It will die back in the winter (I thought mine was dead) then comes back in Spring.

I always think Gardening is a sweeter, kinder section than most of Mumsnet. The guys in exercise are nice too.

AlternativeTentacles · 15/04/2015 18:59

chives - either buy one and split it, or when someone's plant has flowered and the seeds star to show, take a seed head and plant it where you want it. The net year you will have a bunch of chives.

PeeNoMore · 15/04/2015 19:49

Brilliant thread! I have no luck at all with plants and every so often I buy some herbs and then watch them slowly die over the summer :( Going to read this thread right through!

Madcats · 15/04/2015 20:12

If you can find them in the garden centre/online, curry plants seem to like living alongside sage/rosemary and thyme (tho I need to buy a new thyme after 6 years of good service against my other south-facing beasts against a wall). i have no idea what the herb is used for (aside from popping it in cupboard with thyme to deter moths), but it is lovely to stroke and sniff!