Herbs to grown in the garden

[LadyGaGasPokerFace]

Hello, just after some advice about growing herbs in my garden that is a 50/50 sunny and shady garden. I stayed somewhere in the IOW that grew tonnes of rosemary and it had a fairly shady garden. This is what I’d like to do too, but not just rosemary, I’m open to options of other herbs too. Any ideas are welcome.

i think i have used all my sage - that is my most used herb, apart from parsley, its great with butternut squash
marjoram is also fine in my soil

We're on free-draining sandy loam here, and it is a right nuisance.

Thymes thrive here in a part shady spot and fennel, which is gorgeous, shoots up in most conditions.

This is a great thread, thank you all so much!!

For a beginner would anyone have a timeline of what I can plant when? And good sources for seeds - or am I better starting with pre potted herbs?

Yes, I thought you probably were.

Borage grows like a weed in my south facing but very windy front garden. Planted it once, and it self seeds like mad. Three years later I still have it. But it is a gorgeous shade of blue and I let it flower for the apiarists in the area.
Lemon balm is intent on world domination, keep it in a pot.
Some “kind “ person planted what she said was Welsh Chives, it’s not it is a allium thug plant related to wild garlic according to the RHS . DH is going to weed kill it this year, it’s taken over the lawn.
sage lasts a few years and then keels over for me. My bay is massive.
Rosemary, thyme and hyssop are woody perennial and flower well. Parsley has its moments, as does basil - either tons of it or nearly nothing.

Much more expensive from pre-potted herbs, but if you obtain them from a herb specialist you may get varieties that are difficult to find seeds of. If you just want a basic starting set, then supermarket live herbs sold for culinary use are a good start - split them up a bit and pot them up when you get them.

Parsley always from seed. It's biennial so you'll be re-sowing every year. Basil is easy from seed, again, it's treated as an annual here because it won't survive the winter, even indoors. Mint is easiest from a cutting from a neighbour - put it in water till you see roots, then pot up.

Seeds - it'll say on the packet, but mostly April to early May.

Put the mint in a separate area! We put a pot which we thought was dead mint on our bonfire area (didn't want to risk it on the compost just in case) and over 4 years it's spread over an area and about 5 metres square! I don't mind it there as it's a slightly wild area of the garden and it's lovely when you tread on it and smell it but in the herb garden it's now imprisoned in an old Butler sink. Oregano also in a separate pot. I have chives, rosemary, fennel, marjoram, lemon balm and bay as well. They all grow pretty well. I only grow basil indoors but we're getting a greenhouse soon so I'll grow it in there.

Oh yes, and sage!

I’ve done a mixture of both purchasing pots from a garden centre and growing from seed. My local garden centres do pots for £1.99, 5 for £9. As the DC have been setting up herb pots recently, I’ve bought thymes, different varieties, Vietnamese coriander, hyssop, prostrate rosemary, chocolate mint, sage in pots and planted parsley, basil, coriander etc as seeds. The Vietnamese coriander is the only failure.

A bit "out there", but Pineapple sage if you can find it! Tastes lovely and makes amazing flowers in September. Ours unfortunately died and I miss it!

I would keep basil and coriander inside as well, my slugs enjoy it too much.

I probably use oregano and thyme the most, out of what is growing outside. We also have wild garlic self-seeded which I like chucking in as well (this is another one which needs to be kept under control if you put it in intentionally!).

We also have fennel, but aware if left unchecked it can turn into a forest without much warning!

Mint definitely in a pot unless you want extensive ground cover! I like having different types of mint - chocolate mint is particularly fun, tastes a bit like an after eight.

Research your type of rosemary. There are boring bog standard ones that you see everywhere, but some also have (or are more likely to actually flower), with beautiful blue flowers.

Inspired to try growing chives now! I have found that thyme and rosemary grow very well. I also have parsley, which only takes a few weeks to appear from seeds. Mine are in pots but even then my mint managed to spread into the neighbouring pot, so be careful with it. Coriander and basil do badly outside. Oregano exploded into a giant bush and I ended up giving it away as I wasn't using it. I also had success with chilli peppers. It's time to plant them soon if interested.

Be careful with chives/onion family if you have cats.

@MrsSkylerWhite - why? Our cats sleeps in our chive area most summers.

I love chocolate mint, it's lovely.

Caspianberg · Today 15:44
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@MrsSkylerWhite - why? Our cats sleeps in our chive area most summers.”

Which is fine. Eating it though is hazardous, according to creditable sources, which some apparently do. Odd, you’d think they would know but seemingly not.

Marjoram and oregano are not two names for the same plant, they are different plants. https://www.rhs.org.uk/herbs/marjoram/grow-your-own

@MrsSkylerWhite - ah I see. Mine have never attempted to eat plants. He barely likes cat food, so he’s not going to start munching on a chive

Marjoram is fine, not a thug in my garden either and lovely and sweet smelling if you do trim it back. Even mint doesn't proliferate in mine, I mean it grows but not with great abundance. Sage is the one that spreads the most, but just chop bits off and dry it. Curly parsley and rosemary seem to always do well outside, and lavender.

Basil grows well outside in summer but eventually goes to seed. Even managed to grow coriander outside for a bit but it did the same. Chives are really pretty. I just get through pots and pots of basil & coriander indoors as I use them quickly in cookery.