Hello

I have a specific beginner's question regarding a herb garden I am trying to start in containers in the UK (North-West England). I have recently bought the herbs listed below in pots from the garden centre. I plan to grow them in a sunny yard in troughs. I have assimilated some knowledge as to what I should be doing, but some of it is taking time to piece together. I believe that I may have bought these plants a few weeks too early, as the last frost in my area is late April/early May. I would like to ask for suggestions as to what I should do at this point, and answers may be species specific if possible. I have 3 basic options to choose from.

1) Leave the plants in their original pots. Keep them indoors at a window and watered (with good drainage) until the frost date, then transfer to troughs and put them outside.
2) Transfer the plants from their pots to the trough right now, then keep them inside until the frost date.
3) Transfer the plants from their pots to the trough right now and put the trough outside.

Rosemary
Thyme
Mint
Sage
Chives
Parsley
Bay (Kitchen Bay)
Marjoram
Oregano
French Tarragon
Dill
Rocket

RioBravo wrote:
Hello

I have a specific beginner's question regarding a herb garden I am
trying to start in containers in the UK (North-West England). I have
recently bought the herbs listed below in pots from the garden
centre. I plan to grow them in a sunny yard in troughs. I have
assimilated some knowledge as to what I should be doing, but some of
it is taking time to piece together. I believe that I may have bought
these plants a few weeks too early, as the last frost in my area is
late April/early May. I would like to ask for suggestions as to what
I should do at this point, and answers may be species specific if
possible. I have 3 basic options to choose from.

1) Leave the plants in their original pots. Keep them indoors at a
window and watered (with good drainage) until the frost date, then
transfer to troughs and put them outside.
2) Transfer the plants from their pots to the trough right now, then
keep them inside until the frost date.
3) Transfer the plants from their pots to the trough right now and put
the trough outside.

Rosemary
Thyme
Mint
Sage
Chives
Parsley
Bay (Kitchen Bay)
Marjoram
Oregano
French Tarragon
Dill
Rocket

Most of those should handle a light frost. I would go for (3) and throw a
blanket over them if it looks like being a really cold night.

D

Thank you. i will be able to bring them indoors if needed, even once potted into troughs.

Can I ask a couple of other questions.

1) Is there a good way to group them together in troughs (maybe 4 or 5 together)? I will keep the mint separate

2) Do people use fertilizer, if so, which one, and how much?

RioBravo wrote:[color=blue][i]
'David Hare-Scott[_2_ Wrote:
;955323']RioBravo wrote:
Most of those should handle a light frost. I would go for (3) and
throw a
blanket over them if it looks like being a really cold night.

D

Thank you. i will be able to bring them indoors if needed, even once
potted into troughs.

Can I ask a couple of other questions.

1) Is there a good way to group them together in troughs (maybe 4 or 5
together)? I will keep the mint separate


To start I would group them on water needs. For example mint likes to be
damp and will stand being wet but rosemary likes excellent drainage and to
get fairly dry between watering. However there is another issue that some
like rosemary form a perennial shrub up to about 1.5m high where others
like rocket are annuals only 20-30cm. So the rosemary might, for example,
be better off in a larger tub on its own where it will not be disturbed. If
by kitchen bay you mean laurus nobilis it grows into a sizeable tree which
is hardly suitable for a trough. There is no one size fits all here. Study
all the labels and/or get a book on herbs from the local library for all
their different preferences.

2) Do people use fertilizer, if so, which one, and how much?

Most herbs are not heavy feeders and there is nothing to be gained by trying
to force them on. Some will be fine on the nutrients in the (I assume)
fresh potting mix others that last more than one season may need topping up
each year with a _little_ general fertiliser.

David

Hi!

I have grown herbs outside (a smaller selection than yours!) and don't bring them in for the frosts (I'm in London, so they don't get too cold). Some look a bit tatty later in the winter, but rejuvenate quickly in spring. Most herbs should be pretty happy outside in the winter: with obvious exceptions like Basil (which I only grow indoors).

As for which plants to combine in the same trough, I think you've had good advice on that: look for plants that like similar conditions to put together. I grow mint in a separate pot to stop it taking over, as you already knew. I grow Rosemary and Sage together and they seem perfectly happy to share a pot. I've grown rosemary and thyme together in the past, and the Rosemary had a tendency to take over but only very slowly, and it didn't mind being cut back occasionally to compensate.

One recent discovery is that I have always grown parsley and chives together, and the chives have never done very well. I recently read that chives like to have their own pot, so took them out of the parsley pot and put them by themselves. Already (about 2 weeks later) they are looking MUCH happier. So you might want to plant your chives in a separate plastic plant plot sunk into your trough to keep other plants' roots out.

Good luck!

Di

Mint is extremely hardy! Its pretty much a weed. And I wouldnt put it anywhere near your other herbs because it will steel all nutrients and living space! It crowds my haustas and my peonies. And we live in a zone 4.

Chives are also very hardy! Chives don't spread like mint, however it can be planted now. Even if it frosts it will be just fine! I have been using my chives from my outside herb garden for a month at least.. Again I am in upstate New york!

As for the rest of you plants. They will do fine in the containers on a counter for 2 weeks, even longer if needed! When you plant them though, dont add a bunch of chemicals, fertilizer, or even any more peat moss for a week or so, because they can fry (burn) the root systems. Just ruffle the root system a bit, plant and water! After a week or so give them sove love with fertilizer..

Hope all goes well!

Wow! I just looked up the hardiness zoning for the UK!!

YOU ARE "WAY OK" TO PLANT ANYTHING YOU WANT! No worries..

Rebecca

Thank you for all of the advice.

Thank you to everyone for the advice

All of the advice so far is very good. From my own herb growing experience, the rosemary, mint, sage, parsley, and oregano can overwinter even through snow if properly mulched and are essentially perennials even in zones 5 and 6.

The Thyme, Marjoram and Dill are all more tender and a real hard frost on any can kill them. Avoid this with a blanket, mulch, straw etc.

The rosemary and the bay are really woody plants and probably deserve ultimately their own space. (See earlier comments.)

Good luck! Nice selection to start.