The Herb Garden - month by month

[Vegi potager]

Looking back over the last few posts I realise the only herb?spice on my list not sown is the cumin... well I have space in the HP so I may do that today...

Also referring to post 56, all 3 wild garlics now have 2 leaves each... 1 has a flower bud and one is flowering... at this rate it might be a few years before my 1st harvest but I am glad to see that they are doing well.

[Vegi potager]

I cheated and brought a super market basil to add to the rest I am growing from seed to get ahead start. only 49p for a small pot, but divide into 4 or more potting 3-4 stems together to grow on.

[Vegi potager]

The bay in its pot is in full flower and smells so sweet... just don't get poked in the eye when bending over to sniff

[Vegi potager]

I know it is spring because I had the BIGGEST bumble bee checking out the rosemary Too slow running to get my phone, so just the flowers shown here...

[Sweet savory]

Re bay trees - even in pots I have found they are surprisingly immune to some neglect.Mine is growing well despite haphazard watering.
Re mint I top dress mine every year with compost and bfb.It is planted in bottomless pot and shooting well currently.
tomorrow I think I will get parsley, namesake and chervil seeds into pots.

[Vegi potager]

Well I have divided 1 full 30cm pot of French tarragon into 6, sown some breed seed poppy (Maanzaad) and some welsh onion.

My 3 tiny pips of wild garlic planted last spring that promptly disappeared have all come up this year There is still only 1 leaf each, but give it time... I have tried to grow from seed, spring, autumn, seed trays, insitu to no avail so I am happy that the plants have survived.

When we get to the 2025 year of this thread I may be cursing that I ever put them in but I can always move

[Vegi potager]

^^^ I had moved a few containers of herbs into the GH for winter last Nov. and apart from a splash of water about every 6 weeks or so have neglected them. Happy to say that they all look to be doing well and I will be dividing and re-potting into fresh compost next week end. (French tarragon, mint, spearmint and chocolate mint.) the different thymes and English mace I will leave alone until I move them all back into the garden mid April. That said the thymes and mints etc, that I didn't move into the winter quarters have survived this very mild winter out doors so not much need for further propagation this year.

I will leave the lemon grass and ginger in the GH for the summer.

Sown so far in the way of herbs are:
Lemon grass, curly and flat leaf parsley, Basil (red, Greek, sweet green,) coriander, chamomile, sage (green)

To be sown:
chives sp. and garlic; Dill; Chervil; Summer savoury; cumin; oregano; more coriander, parsley and basil.

To take more cuttings:
Bay, lavender, recumbent rosemary, variegated and purple sage; and to find some more volunteer ginger in the supermarket to grow some more this summer.

[greenishfing]

Must say that despite complete and utter neglect at the back of the greenhouse border I have an Oregano plant and a French Tarragon plant looking unbelievably healthy. They were planted last Spring and I hadn't even opened the greenhouse door since I dug the tomatoes and peppers up in the Autumn.

[veggiechicken]

Another question!

Can I prune a bay plant/tree violently and expect it to re-grow? I've got a couple that have got rather straggly due to harvesting the older leaves while the new leaves are growing further up the twigs.

My bay trees are 10'+ tall so I happily take complete branches out and attack them with loppers.
Your bay tree may be a lot smaller but, since they can be clipped into shapes (like Bramble's) you could start by taking off some of the new shoots - and use them as cuttings.

[bramble]

I bought a pot of young bay leaves in a container in Tesco.
I brought them home and potted them up.
I have trained them into mop headed bay trees and they are in a pot each of my hall door.

[Mark Rand]

Another question!

Can I prune a bay plant/tree violently and expect it to re-grow? I've got a couple that have got rather straggly due to harvesting the older leaves while the new leaves are growing further up the twigs.

[Mark Rand]

Got some lemon (winter) savory coming up along with several varieties of basil in the propagator and some mint seeds poking their heads up. Chives and parsely will take a bit longer

I should have tried heat treating my two (15") pots of mint plants before they went dormant for the winter because they both got mint rust last year. I assume it was too late once the rust turned into spores?

Unrelated question:- Is it ok to give mint a couple of inches of top-dressing?

[veggiechicken]

I grew my bay trees from cuttings initially, Sp - can't remember what I did though. At a rough guess it would have been to take a bit of fresh growth, strip off the lower leaves and plunge it deep into a pot. Stick it aside and forget about it.
If I can get some growing I'll send you some.

[Small pumpkin]

Let me know how you get on with your bay cuttings VC. I’m still trying & still failing
Never mind I’ve got another couple of years to get it right

[veggiechicken]

I'm going to sow some January ones this week - Chives & Garlic chives and Winter savory.
Also take cuttings of Bay and Rosemary, just for the fun of it, as I have more of each than I'll ever use!