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Herb growing guide

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  • boragejohnsonboragejohnson Posts: 50
    edited April 2023
    B3 said:
    Don't ignore supermarket herbs. A good cheap way of starting a herb garden


    Dobbin26 said:
    Lidl also have a reasonable range of herb seeds and pretty cheap. I've used these for the last few years for my herb plants. This year's were planted last weekend in the greenhouse and in the heated propagator. I'm looking forward to some tasty herbs again this year.

    I'll have a look in the supermarkets today...
  • Fairygirl said:

    Do you mean the curry plant, as in Helichrysum? I grew it many years ago, but I don't like the combination of grey with yellow flowers. It struggled in harsher winters anyway, but might be ok for you, again if the site is right. The wet stuff will be difficult for it. 


    Yep, that's the one, can't help rubbing the leaves at the garden centre and having a sniff..

    Winter wet seems as though it's going to be my biggest issue with herbs.

  • Decide which herbs you use or that you particularly want to grow for the bees etc. and then research each ones particular growing requirements. You may be able to grow most of them but you will probably find some that your area or soil will not accomadate.

    Thta's something that's really important to me, being primarily a wildlife garden.


  • I don’t know if my winters are as wet as yours but I didn’t add grit to any of the planting holes.

    The planter in the top layer is purely 50/50 grit/topsoil so I've got drainage covered - but then I'll need it in this locale...
  • Having read through these posts, I'm wondering if a cloche could be a solution - like the long, heavy kind that Monty uses? 

    I'd have to make sure it was weighted down on some way to prevent it becoming airborne though - the planter is about a metre off the ground.   
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    What would be using the cloche for @boragejohnson?
    If it's for protection, ie winter cold protection,  I doubt it would be much use, although you may not get quite as many low sub zero temps as further inland. Don't forget that it's also about general dampness up here, and a longer winter, so plants don't 'spring' into growth so early, excuse the pun. A cloche can hold too much dampness in. 
    Those lovely frosty days with sun for hours on end that other parts of the country get, don't happen that often because although there's plenty of frost, the sun often disappears pretty quickly as another bank of weather comes back in... ;)

    Adding grit to a planting hole would never work here. It has to be a mix of grit and soil/compost for these kinds of plants, with the emphasis on grit. That's why it's hard to grow them in the ground here - raised beds, with a really sharp mix,  or pots, are the only reliable method. Clay is the predominant soil type, and it doesn't dry out in summer.
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • raisingirlraisingirl Posts: 7,093
    I grow a lot of herbs, and I use Jekka's 'complete herb book' a lot. 

    Most of them will do well in pots and then you can give them some cover in winter. As Fairyg says, quite a lot are OK with cold but won't tolerate wet cold, so they just need to be under an overhang, not necessarily indoors. It's very wet and windy where I am and I have clay soil. I don't have the prolonged cold that you get but we do get hard frosts every winter. 

    I have a prostrate rosemary which is tender but it's growing outside here and came through the Beast from the East when it was down to about minus 10 or so. It's planted behind a low dry stone retaining wall, so very free draining and in a sheltered corner.

    Sage will grow in pots. Oregano and especially marjoram will probably be fine in a sunny spot and the bees love them. Allium relatives - welsh onions, chives, walking onions, perennial leeks - all seem to be quite tough, given fairly free draining soil (garlic is a bit trickier). Mint will grow - the problem is always stopping it. You need to confine it. Likewise lemon balm. Lemon verbena grows happily in a pot. Annuals like parsley, basil and leaf coriander are easiest bought as pot herbs in the supermarket, then split up and planted in bigger pots (they won't live long in the overcrowded pots they sell them as). 

    Get hold of Jekka's book - lots of ideas and loads of information.
    Gardening on the edge of Exmoor, in Devon

    “It's still magic even if you know how it's done.” 
  • Fairygirl said:
    What would be using the cloche for @boragejohnson?


    Just an idea to keep the wet off the leaves, but I guess the air will still be cold and humid, as will the ground...

  • I grow a lot of herbs, and I use Jekka's 'complete herb book' a lot. 

    Most of them will do well in pots and then you can give them some cover in winter. As Fairyg says, quite a lot are OK with cold but won't tolerate wet cold, so they just need to be under an overhang, not necessarily indoors. It's very wet and windy where I am and I have clay soil. I don't have the prolonged cold that you get but we do get hard frosts every winter. 

    I have a prostrate rosemary which is tender but it's growing outside here and came through the Beast from the East when it was down to about minus 10 or so. It's planted behind a low dry stone retaining wall, so very free draining and in a sheltered corner.

    Sage will grow in pots. Oregano and especially marjoram will probably be fine in a sunny spot and the bees love them. Allium relatives - welsh onions, chives, walking onions, perennial leeks - all seem to be quite tough, given fairly free draining soil (garlic is a bit trickier). Mint will grow - the problem is always stopping it. You need to confine it. Likewise lemon balm. Lemon verbena grows happily in a pot. Annuals like parsley, basil and leaf coriander are easiest bought as pot herbs in the supermarket, then split up and planted in bigger pots (they won't live long in the overcrowded pots they sell them as). 

    Get hold of Jekka's book - lots of ideas and loads of information.

    Thanks for the info, very helpful - I've got a lot of reading to do later on this week when the postie arrives..
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    Cloches can cause more problems than they solve- for the reasons you mention, and as I  also described earlier. 
    Damp soil enclosed...

    If you're growing the herbs you mention in this part of the world, it comes down to really good drainage, and then overwintering the dodgier ones, or taking cuttings from them if you leave them out. That's why containers are easier for many of them as you can bring them inside for winter.  :)
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
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