What's the best place in the garden for growing herbs ?
Question:I live in NE Scotland and just bought some potted chives, parsley and mint. I quite liked the idea of growing my own, I was told they would grow well in my garden but now I am wondering where I can put them. Do I have to put them in a well maintained garden or will they grow in the rough areas ? Do they have to have a lot of sunshine ? Do I have to water them a lot? How rapidly or not will they grow? Can I plant them next each other?
Looking forward to your green fingered tips :-)
Andy
Answers:
the chives and parsley will go in full sun ... nice soil, not rough ... and the mint needs a cool, shady area for part of the day at least ... it sounds as tho' you have only bought a little ...they probably will not keep up with your kitchen needs if you cook a lot ..but enjoy them anyway.and the chives if not used will make a pretty lavender-colored flower head since it will be trying to make seed ...
I'd just run back to the store and buy more .you will be surprised how quickly you can grow accustomed to having fresh supplies of herbs ... and you might like to add basil to your collection ...it is a little late to grow any of them from seed, considering where you live ...but the plants will be fine..
love, Lakshmi
Most herbs seem to do best in rich, well drained soils.
Herbs as a rule are wild or native plants to different parts of the world, many originate from southern Europe which has warm to hot rather dry summers
Low water requirements "Most"
Full sun when possible "All"
Should do well in "ruff" areas of your garden.
Most are fairly slow growing plants.
Mint can be VERY invasive and may need to be contained to a area with edging 6 inchs deep in the soil around the plant{s}
i grew them once on my kitchen window sill where it was light.
I`ve got a big herb box built out side, and everything I `ve got in it has grown well.
Shaded in the morning and all the sun you can get in the afternoon. 3 different types of mint, 2 types of sage, rosemary, parsely, oregano and mustard herb.
When I first planted mine I watered them with plenty of food. Once they go, they go mad.
Just make sure if you don`t use them so much cut them down.
I grow my herbs in old beer barrels near to back door as they are easy to fetch when you need them, it is a sunny site which gets plenty of rain water, and the barrels drain well, i grow Sage[common] Thyme[three verities, common, orange and the lemon] Chives, fennel,Rosemary, lemon balm, lemon verbena, but mint i put in a separate tub of its own as this takes over were ever you plant it, have fun building your herb garden.
rich composty soil in partly sunny area- not too hot
If you think about it - you want the herbs to be close to hand so you can pop out whilst you are cooking.
So pots next to the back door is a really good idea.
If you are of an artistic bent you can convert loads of old things into herb pots - the favourite one I have seen beeing someones old leather work boot!
There is also the point that herbs CAN get very invasive - mint especially will just take over any are you plant it in so restraining the roots is a good idea.
Many herbs die back to nothing in the winter too - so unless you are confident you could identify them in the following year - keeping them near at hand in containers is the best idea by far!
Sunny area is best. The Mediterranean herb will do well on a poor well drained Sunny site. Chives, parsley & mint dont mined a bit of shade. Mint will sread all over if let. A lot of gardeners keep them in tubs. They only need watering if kept in containers.
As far as i know herbs dont need much looking after.they grow wild.MY advise to you would be to not grow herbs in your garden if you have any cats as herbs is an attraction for them and this often causes the herb gardens to die .
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