Starting off a herb garden

[His_Einna]

I have a little patch of pavement just sitting there this year. Hopefully next year I'll be able to get a greenhouse, but this year, it's just there. It's in the north-east corner of the garden with a 6' wall on the north and east edges, and a similar height shed to the west side, and gets quite a lot of sun. I want to start a herb garden, preferably one that covers the basic herbs (parsley, sage, rosemary, thyme, mint, basil, lavender, rosemary) but I don't know a huge amount about herb gardening. I have a couple of books on it, but I was wondering if anyone could tell me how suitable/easy the list of herbs would be in that plot.

Thanks gang!

Anni

[rainbowgardener]

Well, I'm having trouble imagining how a little plot that is enclosed with 6' walls on three sides actually gets "quite a bit of sun." The herbs you mentioned mostly all do need full sun, meaning at least 6 hrs a day, if not more, all through the growing season. And I'm not sure how cold it gets where you are, which makes a difference for what you can grow.

You said it's pavement, so you are planning to do raised beds or containers?

To start with it's a bit mixed bag of herbs you mentioned. Sage, rosemary, thyme, mint, lavender are perennial. Basil and parsley are annuals (well actually the parsley is a biennial, but most people grow it as an annual). It works better to keep the annuals and perennials separate, but if you are doing a bunch of pots or something, that won't be hard. The mint is an aggressive spreader and needs a large pot of its own (and never plant the stuff in the ground, unless you want your whole yard to be mint!).

All of these herbs do quite well in containers, but the rosemary and lavender are much more slow growing and the lavender is the one that likes containers the least. (I do have some lavender in containers but it doesn't thrive as well as the lavender in the ground; again that may be because it gets pretty cold here and pots freeze more than the ground.)

Not sure what else you want to know, just don't over water or over fertilize. Herbs mostly do well with lean, somewhat sandy, well drained soil.

[His_Einna]

Thanks, that's a great start. I am planning to have them all in pots, which gives me the added option of bringing them indoors if it gets too cold. And yes, the plot does get a lot of sun; whilst the little patch of pavement is only small, the garden it's in is not. The pavement's in one corner of a 35' square garden, so the fences don't cast shade over too much of it.

[Yorkshire Lavender]

All of these herbs do quite well in containers, but the rosemary and lavender are much more slow growing and the lavender is the one that likes containers the least. (I do have some lavender in containers but it doesn't thrive as well as the lavender in the ground; again that may be because it gets pretty cold here and pots freeze more than the ground.)

What variety of lavender do you have? Have you thought about bringing the lavender in pots indoor during the winter if you are getting harsh winters? The dwarf lavenders such as Hidcote tend to do the best in pots.

[rainbowgardener]

I have several varieties, some is the Hidcote. I have some more just sprouted under the lights in my basement. I hadn't really thought about bringing it in. I'm not sure whether it would do better or worse. Warmer, but less light indoors. Anyway I've only got really two decent windows for putting plants in front of and they are a jungle already... I'm running out of room for all the things I bring in The lavender doesn't thrive in pots outdoors, but it survives.

[elle]

Hello His Einna!

I have aromatic herbs in pots :

Rosemary and lavender. They need each one a big pot. I have putted some sand together with the soil when planted, and many clay balls on the bottom. No fertilization and usually just the water that comes from weather. If you think there could be too much rain for them, it could be useful to keep the pots a little uplift over the pavement, so that the water can drain out more easy from the bottom holes.
I have them outside all year (-10 °C , and also under the snow), but I don't know in your climate If you want to try winter outside, you can try next to a wall (south from the wall), if you have the possibility, and you can cover them. My pots are cm 50 x 50 x height 70.

Sage. More or less I treat it the same way of rosemary and lavender, but mine sometimes needs a little more of water expecially in the summer. If you don't have space, it can stay in a smaller pot than rosemary and lavender.

Thyme. I tried last year and it died So I cannot help you
But this spring I'll try again!

Mint. As already said, it's a weed plant I have it in a large bowl as it tends to "run" ! Compared to the other herbs, my mint does not stay in sun but slightly in shadow, and grows well for now. So maybe, you can put it in the part with less sun, if you have it. My mint each winter is completely "dead", but it is just the surface part, in spring it starts again with new leaves.

parsley and basil. They are annual. I let them outside and use them toto cook until autumn, then they die. You can bring them in the kitchen when it's getting colder so they'll live bit more.

Oh, I also have chives, don't you like it?