Herbs the Easy Way

 Years ago I decided to try herbs out on the outskirts of my main vegetable garden.  It was nice to have them but it was also a pain to go out and gather them for a quick addition to a dish.  Sometimes it was raining or the grass was wet with dew and I did not want to get my feet wet or feed the chiggers.  If it was breakfast I was working on, I did not want to get caught in my jammies by the neighbors. 

When my garage was built next to my house, facing East, there was about a 4' divider between the garage doors and a second space on the south east corner.  This looked too blank and needed dressed up.  I had 2-24" pots that filled part of the bill but as time went on I clustered several more smaller pots of various sizes around the big pots.  I used bricks or blocks of wood under several to vary the heights. 

At first, I just had flowers in the pots but realized the opportunity of adding herbs that I could easily dash out and snip.  All spring, summer and fall I can easily cut fresh chives, thyme, basil, sage and oregano for my dishes.  While I do not use lots of these herbs, this gives me easy access as well as adding variety to the floral grouping.  Variegated sage is especially pleasing to see in the mix with the silver, grey-green and white. The different forms of the plants add interest too. Chives have nice and thin upright leaves with the benefit of lavender flowers every spring. Thyme is more prostrate with tiny leaves and flowers-a must for the French.  Lemon thyme has a pretty little yellow-green leaf and is wonderful with fresh fruit.  Greek oregano has a prostrate habit too but with larger leaves. The tiny flowers and seed clusters are pretty too.  It can be brought in for the winter as it is not winter hardy here in Zone 5.  Sage is a more bushy plant with medium sized leaves and will get leggy after a few years.  The seedlings will probably make prettier plants for the new year.  Basil is a bushy annual that grows easily from fresh seed only and has many varieties.  I just tried some pesto on some of my end of summer Roma tomatoes-Yum!  Rosemary is one plant that I have not learned to use properly but will grow in a pot just fine.  It can get very large too.  The pot will help determine the size and trimming will help.

The basil and chives love to be watered while many of the other herbs are used to more arid regions and don't need as much attention.  Also all of your plants, especially those in pots, will thank you many times over if they are given a weak fertilizer on a weekly basis or sprinkle the time release pellets on them.  The pellets are easier and last about 3 months so a second but lighter application is OK. Composted manure might work too but few have access to it. 

When the temps begin to drop, bring in the tender perennials and cluster the hardy plants in a protected area.  You want to protect the bases with mulch or something so the roots won't freeze.  If you have a brick/rock house, the heat radiated from the brick keeps them warmer and take advantage of any pockets where leaves gather to mulch them.  Right now I have my oregano in my garage in an unheated plant room and will bring it in the house before we have freezing temps.        

For more information on growing herbs in containers click here

The unheated plant room

More of the fall garden