Planting a Herb Garden
Really fresh herbs are a secret weapon in the keen cook's armoury, adding a depth of flavour that you certainly won't get from dried herbs or even supermarket-bought fresh herbs. Nothing can beat herbs added to the pot within minutes or seconds of being picked.
It's not hard to grow most herbs, and space isn't really an issue - of course, for producing vast quantities you'll need garden space for a permanent herb patch, but even a few patio pots or a windowbox can produce enough herbs to enhance your recipes.
Before you start growing your own herbs, you need to choose where and how to plant them according to the space and conditions available to you.
Position and Soil
Many of the herbs we use in cooking are descended from wild Mediterranean varieties used to growing on sun-blasted, rocky hillsides. As such, they'll enjoy a well-drained, sunny site, although different herbs have different tolerances.
Thyme, for example, absolutely needs good drainage or the roots will start to rot in excess moisture, killing the plant. Other herbs are more forgiving of the kind of soil they're planted in, but in general a coarse, stoney, non-clay soil is preferable.
Sun is pretty essential, as is protection from excessive wind - a sheltered spot in front of a south-facing wall is ideal for most culinary herbs.
A simple but easily overlooked consideration is how far away from the kitchen is your proposed site? You may be planning and planting your garden in spring when the weather is lovely - but come a cold November evening, lashing down with rain, will you be willing to trek to the bottom of the garden for a sprig of rosemary?
Pots or Permanent Bed?
Most herbs are perfectly happy to be grown in containers, whether windowboxes, planters, or decorative pots. If your herb growing is restricted to a patio, then of course pots are basically your only option. But growing herbs in containers can be a good idea even if you have plenty of spare space in your garden.
Some herbs - notably mint - are very invasive. This means that they will rapidly spread, colonising any available growing space, and likely crowding out any other plants they're close to. Even non-invasive herbs can crowd out their less vigorous neighbours, simply by blocking out sunlight and siphoning up more than their fair share of the nutrients in the soil. Planting such antisocial herbs in containers will keep them, ahem, contained, giving their neighbours the chance to flourish.
Other herbs such as french tarragon will grow quite happily in the British climate most of the time, but are not fully hardy and can be damaged or killed off by severe frost. If these herbs are grown in containers, they can be moved into sheltered areas, under cover or even indoors, when frost is likely.
You can also more easily control the soil conditions in pots, giving each herb exactly the acidity levels, texture and drainage properties that best suits it, if you want to get down to this level of gardening detail.
There are however drawbacks to using containers. The main one is that the soil will dry out very quickly in hot weather, and so herbs in pots will need a careful watering regime to make sure that they have enough moisture available. Something to bear in mind before you set off on your summer holidays!
Also, the soil can be depleted of nutrients much more quickly than in a permanent growing bed, and so feeding and / or composting may be necessary. The smaller the pot in relation to the size of the rootball, the more severe these two problems will be.
Next: Getting your herbs >>>