Creating a herb garden

[Zebbert]

Novice gardener here. Have bought several varieties of herbs from a garden centre and also attempting to grow some herbs from seed. Have repòtted the garden centre herbs in slightly larger pots and when they've got a little sturdier was then planning to plant them in raised beds to create my lovely herb garden.

Feel I'm being rather naive. What do I need to know?

Isn’t it lovely? I was sceptical but DP is a visionary!!

You are all so knowledgable!
I have more questions: how do I create well drained soil?
And should I sprinkle grit over the top of the soil.
And will I have to plant all over again next year or do herbs appear year after year?

So glad I found this board

@PinkMic

I'm a very fair weather gardener and we've had a raised bed herb garden for five years. It's got a standard bay in centre surrounded by: -sage (grows absurdly; hack it down and it comes back) -rosemary -oregano -chives -a couple of thymes -curry plant (for aesthetic rather than culinary value!) I only really trim the plants when needed and they've been fine.

I added flat-leaved parsley this year from supermarket; last year's curly parsley is popping up everywhere. I put in a new basil plant every year - this year I'm also trying it from seed.

I have a couple of different mints and other thymes in pots elsewhere.

I'd like to be more adventurous and have more interesting things really. It's really satisfying to pop out and pick what is required for a recipe!

How does your curry plant fare? Are you in the UK?

@Zebbert you only need to create well drained soil if yours is heavy clay like mine. Do you get puddles in heavy rain or does it soak right through? You can improve the drainage by digging in leaf mulch (collect from under trees) or sand. Leaf mulch is better for the soul. You only need to do this where the plant is going. I dig some in before planting lavender for example.

If you want to keep weeds away you can put down a membrane and then pea gravel. Don’t skip the membrane as it will work into the soil. It does make it a faff to plant or add compost to the soil though. Personally I either put down leaf mulch, bark or leave it and just weed when I pick the herbs. I prefer a natural look.

Many herbs are perennial so live for many years. They may die back over winter but they come back to life in the spring.

Evergreen stay green “for ever”. They are nice to give structure to the beds in winter so they don’t look empty. Such as rosemary, sage and bay.

Some perennial herbs are oregano, thyme, mint, chives. Some of these might be evergreen if the winter is mild.

Biennials last two years. One to grow and the next to set seed. Like parsley. You can harvest some leaves both years.

Annuals die each winter and need to be replaced in spring. Coriander, basil.

peajotter thanks so much for the detailed information. I'm learning so much from you all.

No problem. I like to write about gardens while I wash the dirt off the toddler each night!

@Experimenopause 'Curry plant' grows fine, but (as picked up previously) its not an actual edible curry plant.

[quote PinkMic]**@Experimenopause* 'Curry plant' grows fine, but (as picked up previously) its not an actual* edible curry plant.[/quote]
Oh so that is the other curry plant and not the one that is used in curries.

Can I just express admiration for strawberry plants? I bought 2 in spring 2018, they spread themselves and I had 4 last year. This year, we dug out the original planters and dumped all the soil into a big barrel and left it maybe two months while we built the new ones.

Filled the new planters with the old soil and two strawberry plants have surfaced!!

I love herb gardens. I had to replant lots of mine as we lost plants over the winter ( badly timed cutting back). The plants that have lasted and look OK are rosemary, standard bays, chives and the lavender edging.

We've got golden and ordinary marjoram, variegated oregano, thyme, purple, green and tricolour sage, flat and curly parsley, curry plant, coriander and Greek basil.The mints and lemon balm are in pots- but they still manage to spread!

I've also put in some sweet peas- which is rogue.

We have heavy clay soil, but dug in lots of sand/grit.

I have serious garden envy now

What do people use lemon balm for? It sounds lovely!

Love your herb planters aloha, did you get someone in to build them? Is that a log store behind? Such a clever idea.

The lemon balm is lovely with hot water as a herb tea- a bit like mint tea but less minty!

Top tip is don’t put mint in your raised bed unless it’s in its own pot . It spreads like wildfire and is a nightmare to dig out ! I learnt this the hard way last year!

DP built them! He built the log store, too. We’ve got three log stores now - one that is like a standard three sided mini shed, the one in the picture and one the width of the bathroom extension. The garden itself is tiny, but this is usually the busy season for his business and it’s tourism based, so he’s been at a bit of a loss for things to do! He’s painted the whole back of the house, built the log stores and planters, reorganised the shed and is now building up the slate dividing wall to give us more privacy. He’s also said we are having an eight foot planter at the front of the house, but that will be flowers really as it’s right on the road and I don’t spend much time in it.

After reading all this wonderful advice I realise I need a rethink.

I'd bought about eight different types of herbs from a garden centre and repotted them with a view to planting them all in a raised bed when they'd become bigger and stronger.

The raised bed area is about 5ftx2ft. I now know I need to segregate the mint, but is this area big enough to plant seven different herbs? How much space do they need to grow? I so want them to florish.

@cathyandclare That's lovely - what I was hoping for, but on a much grander scale!

I have all mine in a long narrow strip, no more than 40cm wide.
I have to prune them regularly, the sage, lemon balm and oregano especially, they’ve are very vigorous growers.
But they all do fine.

Ours is about four foot square. The rosemary,
Sage and oregano would mostly fill it if given the chance, but are happy enough with vigorous pruning.

Chives are one of my favourites because they stay in a relatively discreet clump, look great in flower and then pop up the same year after year.

I can't get parsley. And it's the only one I really want!

That planting corner is beautiful.

Can you lovely posters tell me if it’s too late to plant my herb seeds and should I start them in a greenhouse? I’m in NI and frost session should be finished by now.

Buy copper tape to keep slugs out. Plant parsley and mint in separate pots so they don't take over, basil grows better on your window ledge than it does outside.

Careful with lemon balm - the variety we have in our garden is a thug and it comes up everywhere

Basil and coriander can be planted now from seed quite happily. I struggle with growing parsley from seed but I might try a second batch now. My top tip - camomile turns out to be a little too happy in the sun so need a bee of its own!

I don't know where about in Scotland you are, but I find some herbs are not hardy enough to survive our winter (central belt). Thyme grows best in a pot beside the house. When I've had it further from the house it has not done well over the winter. Rosemary grows well here as do chives and mint. Oregano grows OK, but doesn't always survive the winter. The oregano plant I bought last year is only now covered in leaves and for several weeks in March/April I thought I'd killed it. Celery leaf and golden marjoram also grow well. Garden mint is OK but other varieties (apple mint, chocolate mint etc) haven't made it to a second season. Bay tree is also doing well.

Once I can get to a garden centre that isn't crowded I want to try some lemon balm.