Talkback: Growing herbs - Talkback

08/04/2011 at 15:54

For years I had what we called Welsh bunching onions all along one side of the veg.garden and one winter they all disappeared. They were so useful for soups,stews.omelettes.pizzas,salads, i missed them sorely. Last year I bought a packet of Japanese red bunching onion seeds and now have my useful bunches back and looking much prettier with their red stems and bulbs. I agree, Kate, herbs are the "must grow" for the good cook. Rosemary is flowering in a sheltered spot in my garden but a large one with pink flowers succumbed to the frost. Garlic and rosemary just transform roast potatoes. Thyme likes to grow in crazy paving and sage bushes always look good as well as going well with onions in stuffing. I have a lovely plant of Lady's Smock in full bloom up my garden and your blog reminded me that the leaves can be put in salad in lieu of watercress. Should be hearing the cuckoo soon as the flowers are supposed to come at the same time as the cuckoo. My chives seem to be flowering very early this year too.

Gardeners' World Web User

08/04/2011 at 19:49

My Coriander seeds always always disappear. I assume being eaten by slugs? Any advice please?! Elspeth

Gardeners' World Web User

09/04/2011 at 00:04

I'm planning to put a hanging basket with herbs in outside my back door for easy access. It will contain both perennial and annual herbs - chives, basil, creeping rosemary, lemon balm, parsley, lemon thyme, sage, rocket and coriander. It will get a little morning sun, so I hope it will survive. I can't wait to be able to snip herbs without having to go outside in the garden!

Gardeners' World Web User

09/04/2011 at 09:56

watching the last episode of gardeners world regarding the frost damage to the cordyline australis i have two over ten foot tall in the same condition but not the fungus mentioned but its black at the base and secreted what can only be descibed as spit at one point and has lost most of its leaves,the bottom line, is it a gonner, and should i cut it to the base and hope it regenerates

Gardeners' World Web User

09/04/2011 at 10:51

We have a "herb patch" in our garden, a patch with a little concrete wall. It has rosemary, sage, garlic chives, oregano, lemon thyme, bay (very neglected), mint, cotton lavender and a raspberry bush. I don't do anything to these except for water them and ocassionally prune them and each year they produce a lovely aroma and loads of herbs for us to use. Herbs appear to be one of the easiest things to grow!

Gardeners' World Web User

11/04/2011 at 19:01

I have grown chives for the last couple of years and they seem to have self seeded all over the place i just took some flower head with seeds on and put them near my veg patch and they have all come up and some have flower heads on them, the bees love it and the flowers are a great colour.

Gardeners' World Web User

13/04/2011 at 13:11

This year I've reserved 3 beds for herbs at my allotment and interplanted them with decorative aliums of all sizes. Last year the 4 best growers were coriander, lemon balm, winter savoury and wild fennel which grows in meter high tall fronds. I find the winter savoury very useful as it can replace oregano and thyme in most dishes and is winter hardy and everygreen. The leaves of lemon balm are lovely mixed with mint in tea. And the coriander - seeds from a supermarket spice rack - atracted loads of beneficial insects. Another surpise survivor of thsi harsh winter was the tarragon, I really didn't expect such a delicate herb to get through this cold winter unscathed! @elspeth: birds and mice love coriander seeds, so they may be your culprits. Try cutting off the bottom of an old plant pot. Pust the pot into the soil, smallest end first, then sow the seeds into the pot, water and put some clear plastic over them till they've germinated.

Gardeners' World Web User

13/04/2011 at 13:13

PS: Rubbing lemon balm leaves on my skin was a great way to prevent being eaten alive by mosquitoes!

Gardeners' World Web User

10/05/2011 at 14:04

I have two types of oregano, thought the harsh winter would have killed them, but they look terrific. Better than the dandelions.

Gardeners' World Web User

28/11/2011 at 18:43

My herbs have all survived except the sage. The chives are in bud and I've already picked some parsley, not bad for central Scotland. Have replanted them around the edge as I found it difficult to pick the ones at the back last year so now have some flowers in the spaces left. A story to make you smile now. Two young girls came to tell me that another wee girl had stolen a lady bird from my garden kept a sraight face and said Im sure the ladybird did'nt mind. Laughed at the thought then spent the rest of the night worrying in case she killed it.

Fricks70

04/11/2012 at 20:17

Is it too late to sow herb seeds in pots under cover now (november) so they set a nice root system for te spring to plant out ? I also have rosemary x 2 in one of my borders with some perennials,will they get thru a winter and do i need to cut it back to the ground or anything before winter sets in ? same with the chives,do i need to do anything with them..

flowering rose

05/11/2012 at 15:44

herbs are so useful not only for cooking but for household cleaning,medicinal and of course they can be very fragrant.everybody should try and grow them.

artjak

06/11/2012 at 17:35

Fricks70, I have lost smallish bay plants for the last two years running and will now over winter my small new bay in the greenhouse. Everything else has survived the last two vicious winters in the way of edible herbs. Mine are all in pots now except for Lovage, which dies back totally in the winter and 2xRosemary.

What sort of herbs did you want to sow now? I think that some of them can be sown year round as long as you have a sunny windowsill.

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