Herb Gardening Articles
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The article below covers the following topics, please scroll down to see your area of interest.
Planning a herb garden
Annual/Perennial Herb list
How to harvest and preserve your herbs
Herb Garden Themes
Herb Gardening Calendar
Why grow herbs?
Herbs are easy to grow, rarely suffer from any pests and diseases. They are incredibly versatile; they can give your garden good looks and fragrance, they have culinary and medicinal use, can be used around the home, within skincare products and you will save money by growing your own! What more could you want from a plant?
Mediterranean herbs such as rosemary, thyme and sage thrive in a sunny position in well drained soil. The soil can be quite poor and the herbs will still do well. The main exception to this would be if they are to remain in pots. In this case a good compost and occassional feeding is needed together with good drainage.
Planning a Herb Garden or container
The type of herb needs to be taken into account when planning your herb garden or container. The perennial herbs will form the framework of your garden and the annuals can be slotted in and changed each year if so desired.
There are two main types of herbs; perennial (come back every year and annual (only last one year). Some of the more common herbs are split into these categories below.
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Annual Herbs
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Perennial Herbs
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Biennual Herbs
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Basil
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Bay (evergreen, but protect from frost)
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Angelica
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Borage
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Bergamot
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Evening Primrose
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Calendula
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Catmint (Nepeta cataria)
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Mallow
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Caraway
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Chamomile
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Parsley
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Chervil
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Chives
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Salad Burnet
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Coriander
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Clove Pink
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Dill
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Comfrey
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Fennel
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Cowslip
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Nasturtium
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Curry Plant (evergreen)
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Poppy
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Elecampane
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Salad Rocket
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Feverfew
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Summer Savory
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Heartsease
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Honeysuckle
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Hops
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Horseradsih
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Hyssop (evergreen)
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Juniper
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Lavender (evergreen)
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Lemon Balm
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Lemon Grass (tender)
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Lemon Verbena (tender)
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Lovage
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Lungwort
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Marjoram (treat as an annual in cold climates)
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Marsh-Mallow
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Meadowsweet
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Mint
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Myrtle
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Oregano
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Pelargoniums
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Pennyroyal
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Primrose
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Rosemary (evergreen)
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Sage (evergreen)
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Santolina (Cotton lavender)
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Salad Burnet
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Winter Savory (evergreen)
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Self Heal
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Soapwort
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Sorrel
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Southernwood
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St John's Wort
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Sweet Cicely
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Sweet woodruff
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Tansy
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French Tarragon
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Thyme (evergreen)
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Valerian
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Violet
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Wall Germander (evergreen)
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White Horehound
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Wormwood
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Yarrow
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Herb Garden Themes
When planning your garden, you need to consider what you want to use the herbs for or if you wish for a particular theme for your herb patch. A few possible themes with plant combinations are listed below:
Ornamental: Echinacea, lavender, rosemary, cotton lavender, Elecampagne, Bergamot
Fragrance: Lavender, any mint plant, pineapple sage, thyme, rosemary, evening primrose, jasmine, honeysuckle, lemon balm, sweet basil, bergamot bee balm, pelargoniums, juniper, hyssop, sweet marjoram, pineapple sage, chocolate mint
Culinary: Bay, oregano, marjoram, chives, thyme, parsley, coriander, fennel, dill, moroccan mint, lemon thyme, chervil, lovage, angelica, winter savory, greek basil, sweet basil, garlic, french tarragon
Medicinal: calendula (pot marigold), echinacea, St John's Wort, chamomile, elder, peppermint, feverfew, sage, dill, horehound, comfrey, lemon balm, fennel, thyme, rosemary, valerian
For use in skincare/haircare products: Soapwort, calendula, lavender, roses, lemon balm, chamomile, hops, lemon verbena, orange scented thyme, mint eau de cologne, yarrow
Dye plants: dyer's chamomile, calendula, nettle, daffodils, betony, nettles, parsley, St John's Wort, tansy, elder, golden rod, meadowsweet, sorrel, woad
Herbal Tea Garden: chamomile, thyme, lemon balm, lemon verbena, rosehip, nettle, peppermint, fennel
Craft and Pot pourri Garden: lavender, rosemary, salad burnet, orris, southernwood, chamomile, roses, honeysuckle, lemon verbena, pineapple sage, pinks, thyme, perlargoniums, oregano, marjoram, myrtle, bergamot, catmint
Pizza Garden: tomatoes, oregano, basil
Indian Garden: coriander, marigold, rose
Thai Garden: lemongrass, sweet thai basil
This list is by no means exhaustive and of course you may want a combination of more than one use.
If you have a large garden, separate beds or areas could be created for each use.
If you are limited to containers there could be a few plants within each container relating to the proposed final use. However, it is important to place herbs that like similar soil/sun/shade conditions together for them to thrive.
It is very important to place herbs which are to be used in the kitchen as close to it as you can, otherwise you are unlikely to venture out and get the herbs or you may forget about using them if they are more than a few footsteps away - speaking from personal experience that is!
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Some popular herbs and their preferred conditions
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| Lemon Balm | Grows in almost any soil and position but prefers moist soil which is fairly fertile and a sunny position. |
| Basil | Fertile and moist well drained soil in a sunny position. |
| Chives | Fertile, well drained soil in sun or partial shade. |
| Coriander | Relatively fertile, moist well drained soil in partial shade. |
| Dill | Fertile, moist well drained soil in full sun. |
| Lavender | Well drained soil in full sun. |
| Rosemary | Well drained soil in full sun. |
| Thyme | Well drained soil in full sun. |
| Parsley | Rich soil in sun or partial shade. |
| Sage | Sheltered sunny position in chalky soil |
| French Tarragon | Fertile well drained soil in full sun or partial shade. |
How to harvest and preserve your herbs
Most herbs harvested for their leaves are at their best just before they flower, although some such as thyme are best when in flower especially for herbal tea making.
Flowers are best harvested once they have just opened. Seeds when they have just changed from green to brown.
For decorative use in cards etc, the stage at which the plant is at is not as important. For Lavender wands or weaving the stems should be cut then used as soon as possible otherwise they get dry and break more easily.
Whatever the use, the best time of day to pick is in the morning of a dry, sunny day after the dew has evaporated.
However roots should be dug in the Autumn when the top growth has stopped. Lift the whole root carefully, wash soil off thoroughly and cut off the top growth and peel/cut off any fine fibrous sections. To dry the roots, slice thinly and dry in an oven set to 50 or 60 degrees centrigrade making sure you turn them regularly.
Drying and Preserving Herbs
Herbs can be dried or preserved in various ways: air drying, on a flat suspended piece of muslin on a frame, microwave drying, tied in bunches of 6 to 8 stems in a dry, dark airy room, using a dehydrator, in ice cubes, loose in freezer bags.
The main aim of drying herbs is to preserve their essential oils but get rid of the water content in as short a space of time as possible. The time taken varies from herb to herb and depends on weather conditions as well, the herb should be crisp and crumble easily. If they are soft or spongy there is too much moisture still in them.
Make sure you keep the herbs to be dried separate from each other to avoid the stronger scented ones from transferring their scent onto other plants. They should be placed somewhere where there it is dry and there is good ventilation, darkness and warmth eg an airing cupboard or an unused room.
Once dried, the herbs should be stored in dark glass jars with a tight fitting lid (non metallic) or in a glass jar in a cool, dry, dark cupboard. (Their colour and flavour is reduced if exposed to light). Dried herbs if correctly stored should last approximately 1 year.
A rough guide to using dried herbs is that 1 teaspoon is equivalent to a tablespoon of the fresh herb i.e. the dried herbs are much more concentrated and you therefore do not need to add as much when cooking.
Freezing herbs is quick and easy and very handy for culinary use. It suits the softer leaved herbs that aren't always worth drying eg basil, chives, dill, fennel, parsley, tarragon. Just pick the herbs, rinse, pat dry with kitchen towel and cut finely. Put them into an ice cube tray and add water. Alternatively, pick the herbs, rinse, pat dry and put enough herb for one dish in labelled freezer bags in some kind of container in the freezer (so they don't get lost at the back of the freezer!). The cubes or bagged herbs can be added straight to your dishes from the freezer.
Herb Gardening Calendar
Which herbs and when to sow, plant out and harvest
To make this chart more useful to you I have not split the tasks into specific months. Instead it has been divided into seasons because the exact timing of, for example, the risk of frost occurring varies greatly from one area to another and also the weather conditions vary from year to year.
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Jobs
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Sow indoors/under cover
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Sow outdoors/plant outside (after the risk of frost has passed)
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Harvest
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Other
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Winter (December, January, February)
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Parsley, borage, dill, fennel, chervil.
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Sweet Cicely, Sweet Woodruff, Cowslip.
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Bay, chervil, hyssop, marjoram, parsley, rosemary, sage, thyme, lemon thyme, violets, winter savory.
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Protect outside pots with bubble-wrap or hessian. Check plants for pests and fungal diseases.
Check for snow or wind damage. Clear dead or decaying matter. Protect bay, cotton lavender, rosemary, thymes and winter savory from cold winds. Order seeds, plan and design your garden. Protect new shoots. |
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Spring
(March, April, May) |
Basil (with heat), bergamot, borage, caraway, calendula (pot marigold), chervil, chives, coriander, dill, fennel, horehound, hyssop, lemon balm, lovage, sweet cicely, parsley, sage, summer & winter savory, marjoram, sorrel, thyme.
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Basil, borage, calendula (pot marigold), caraway, chamomile, chervil, chives, coriander, dill, fennel, hyssop, parsley, sweet marjoram, tansy.
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Angelica, bay,chervil, chives, elderflowers (May), fennel, hyssop, lemon balm, lovage, marjoram, mints, nettles, parsley, pennyroyal, rosemary, sage, tarragon, sorrel , Sweet cicely,flowering thymes (for tea), violets, winter savory. |
Divide chives, lemon balm, lovage, marjoram, mints, oregano, pennyroyal, tarragon, wormwood.
Layer older rosemary, sage and thyme plants. Cut back/prune bay, cotton lavender, lavender, rosemary, sage, southernwood and thymes. Early spring: take root cuttings of mints, tarragon, bergamot, tansy, sweet woodruff, sweet cicely. Late spring: take softwood cuttings of marjorams, mints, oregano, rosemary, sage, southernwood, winter savory, french tarragon, thymes. Give liquid feed to herbs in containers. |
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Summer
(June, July August) |
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basil, borage, chervil, chives, coriander, dill, fennel, lovage, marjoram, summer and winter savory, parsley and rocket
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Basil, bay, borage, calendula, clary sage, chervil, chives, coriander, cornflowers, dill, elderflowers, fennel, hyssop, lavender, lemon balm, lovage, marjoram, parsley, rose petals, sage, soapwort, summer and winter savory, rocket, tarragon,and thyme.
(basically everything!) |
Mulch moisture loving herbs.
Give liquid feed to herbs in containers. Cut back lavender after flowering. Collect seeds from angelica, caraway, coriander, chervil, dill, fennel. |
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Autumn
(September, October, November) |
Parsley
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Angelica, chives, hops, parsley, soapwort, sweet cicely, sweet violet, sweet woodruff, winter savory.
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Basil, bay, borage, calendula (pot marigold), caraway, chervil, chives, elderberries (usually September), fennel, hyssop, lemon balm, marjoram, mints, parsley, rosehips, rosemary, clary sage, sage, sorrel, thyme, winter savory. |
Take softwood cuttings of bay, cotton lavender, curry plant, lavender, lemon balm, rosemary, southernwood, tarragon, thyme.
Continue collecting seeds and dry them. Divide chives, comfrey, cowslips, elecampane, lemon balm, lovage, marjoram, marshmallow, meadowsweet, oregano, pennyroyal, sage, sorrel. Take root cuttings of mints, pennyroyal, tarragon, thyme. Bring in tender plants eg French tarragon, lemon verbena, pelargoniums, young bay trees, pineapple sage, tricolor sage. Reduce watering of plants in pots. Wash and clean pots, seed trays and tools before storage. |
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