School Herb Garden advice wanted.

temp11 · March 2022

I am planning to create a small (6m*3m) herb garden at a junior school and would like some advice. The patch is very well drained and in full sun. I have the basic herbs - mint, thyme, rosemary, chives, parsley, sage, basil and coriander. What would people suggest and are there any herbs we should avoid. Ps I also wondered about flowers such as nasturtium. Thanks

Dovefromabove · March 2022

I would include fennel … looking a bit different to the other lower growing herbs you have already, with tall attractive feathery leaves, flowers that attract fascinating non-stinging hoverflies, and then producing seeds that can be harvested and cooked with.

temp11 · March 2022

Dovefromabove said:

I would include fennel … looking a bit different to the other lower growing herbs you have already, with tall attractive feathery leaves, flowers that attract fascinating non-stinging hoverflies, and then producing seeds that can be harvested and cooked with.

Many thanks.

bertrand-mabel · March 2022

Borage is a great one for getting the pollinators in and you can use the young leaves in salads and the flowers.

Great that you are doing this.

We have done similar things in our schools over the years and it it is so good to encourage young people to see and understand the world of nature and what it means to us all.

temp11 · March 2022

bertrand-mabel said:

Borage is a great one for getting the pollinators in and you can use the young leaves in salads and the flowers.
Great that you are doing this.
We have done similar things in our schools over the years and it it is so good to encourage young people to see and understand the world of nature and what it means to us all.

Thanks for this. Nurturing and nature go hand in hand in my opinion. 😁

raisingirl · March 2022

Mint needs to be kept separate - it'll take over the whole bed in 2 years if you don't confine it - you can sink a large pot with no bottom into the bed, leaving the rim an inch or so proud of the soil surface, plant the mint inside it and watch it like a hawk - if you see a root clambering over the pot rim, cut it off and stop it rooting into the bed outside it's 'pen'.

Basil and coriander are relatively difficult to grow in the UK, basil because it's very tender and coriander because it bolts as soon as you turn your back. Plant plenty of plants of both and keep sowing more in succession so you can keep replacing the plants every few weeks. Keep cutting it and using it - it won't last so don't try to keep it.

Rosemary gets big, give it room.

Thyme needs to not be shaded by any of the other plants so put it at the southern edge of the bed.

Oregano is easy, and marjoram is very easy and the bees love it.
Sweet cicely will grow on the shady side of the bed (behind the rosemary, for example) and has lovely feathery leaves and seeds you can chew - the whole plant tastes of sweet aniseed flavour.
Walking onions are fun and a bit mad.

Nasturtiums are great for a herby salad leaf and flowers you can eat. Borage flowers are bright blue and taste of cucumber - it self seeds quite freely but it's easy to manage. Pot marigolds (calendula) are bright and cheerful and the flowers are edible, as are chive flowers. Oh and fennel, as Dove suggested - the flowers are intensely flavoured and very sweet (they make a lovely decoration for gnome cakes, as do borage flowers).

temp11 · March 2022

raisingirl said:

Mint needs to be kept separate - it'll take over the whole bed in 2 years if you don't confine it - you can sink a large pot with no bottom into the bed, leaving the rim an inch or so proud of the soil surface, plant the mint inside it and watch it like a hawk - if you see a root clambering over the pot rim, cut it off and stop it rooting into the bed outside it's 'pen'.

Basil and coriander are relatively difficult to grow in the UK, basil because it's very tender and coriander because it bolts as soon as you turn your back. Plant plenty of plants of both and keep sowing more in succession so you can keep replacing the plants every few weeks. Keep cutting it and using it - it won't last so don't try to keep it.

Rosemary gets big, give it room.

Thyme needs to not be shaded by any of the other plants so put it at the southern edge of the bed.

Oregano is easy, and marjoram is very easy and the bees love it.
Sweet cicely will grow on the shady side of the bed (behind the rosemary, for example) and has lovely feathery leaves and seeds you can chew - the whole plant tastes of sweet aniseed flavour.
Walking onions are fun and a bit mad.

Nasturtiums are great for a herby salad leaf and flowers you can eat. Borage flowers are bright blue and taste of cucumber - it self seeds quite freely but it's easy to manage. Pot marigolds (calendula) are bright and cheerful and the flowers are edible, as are chive flowers. Oh and fennel, as Dove suggested - the flowers are intensely flavoured and very sweet (they make a lovely decoration for gnome cakes, as do borage flowers).

I am so grateful for all this. Walking onions?? I'll Google that as it sounds intriguing. Thanks 😁

Fire · March 2022

temp11 said:

I am planning to create a small (6m*3m) herb garden at a junior school and would like some advice.

That's pretty much the size of my whole garden. Lol. Where abouts are you? In the UK?

It sounds like you already have a great choice of herbs. If there is a 'back' to the plot, then, yes, tall fennel would look good back there. Also you can eat all the parts of the plant - the roots, seeds, leaves and flowers. It is strongly scented. It's a good use of space where you can eat most or all of a plant.

In terms of worrying about which to grow, all herbs are pretty much, by their nature, safe. As noted above, mint likes to spread out, so only use in a pot or planter. Lemon balm too.

You might want to consider which are annuals (in the UK) and which are more perennial. Do you want some to be available to pick through the winter. For example, fennel will (probably) die back each year, rosemary, sage and mint often stay pickable. Basil will only do well through the summer (probably), it likes heat and hot sun, and you can re-seed or buy plants each spring. Nasturtium often self seed well, so when they die back in the winter, even though they are annual plants, their seeds might make for new plants the following year. Lemon verbena makes a lovely tea and has very strongly scented, zingy leaves. I'm not sure if parsley likes a richer, moister soil than the rest you have mentioned.

I am involved in a school veg plot locally and we have been planning according to school access during the holidays. A lot of our planting died off during covid, because there was long periods when no staff were in school to water. It's worth giving watering thought - is the plot near an easy tap? Are you going to have a watering rota? What happens when key staff leave? Who will commit to come in during the holidays? This is often the best key times for harvesting gardens.

temp11 · March 2022

Fire said:

temp11 said:

I am planning to create a small (6m*3m) herb garden at a junior school and would like some advice.

That's pretty much the size of my whole garden. Lol. Where abouts are you? In the UK?
It sounds like you already have a great choice of herbs. If there is a 'back' to the plot, then, yes, tall fennel would look good back there. Also you can eat all the parts of the plant - the roots, seeds, leaves and flowers. It is strongly scented. It's a good use of space where you can eat most or all of a plant.

In terms of worrying about which to grow, all herbs are pretty much, by their nature, safe. As noted above, mint likes to spread out, so only use in a pot or planter. Lemon balm too.

You might want to consider which are annuals (in the UK) and which are more perennial. Do you want some to be available to pick through the winter. For example, fennel will (probably) die back each year, rosemary, sage and mint often stay pickable. Basil will only do well through the summer (probably), it likes heat and hot sun, and you can re-seed or buy plants each spring. Nasturtium often self seed well, so when they die back in the winter, even though they are annual plants, their seeds might make for new plants the following year. Lemon verbena makes a lovely tea and has very strongly scented, zingy leaves. I'm not sure if parsley likes a richer, moister soil than the rest you have mentioned.

I am involved in a school veg plot locally and we have been planning according to school access during the holidays. A lot of our planting died off during covid, because there was long periods when no staff were in school to water. It's worth giving watering thought - is the plot near an easy tap? Are you going to have a watering rota? What happens when key staff leave? Who will commit to come in during the holidays? This is often the best key times for harvesting gardens.

Thanks for all your valuable input. I'm based in Leicester and we suffered the same problems with our veg patch last year which is why I hope herbs will cope better.

Fire · March 2022

I hope herbs will cope better.

I would think that perennials established now will fare better than, say, basil. Plants in the ground will be more robust and handle drought better than in a pot or a planter. I wouldn't be tempted by any climbers or legumes in the bean/pea family.

temp11 · March 2022

Fire said:

I hope herbs will cope better.
I would think that perennials established now will fare better than, say, basil. Plants in the ground will be more robust and handle drought better than in a pot or a planter. I wouldn't be tempted by any climbers or legumes in the bean/pea family.

Again, many thanks.

School Herb Garden advice wanted.

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