So, where do you find the best place to grow stuff like coriander, dill, basil? I have some in my greenhouse that look reasonably healthy at the moment, but have put some on the windowsill, some in a growbag in a plastic greenhouse on east facing wall, and some in a sunny bed with some outdoor toms. Will the slugs get them before I do???? Always a possibility!! Have interplanted some coriander with sweetcorn too.
We have grown purple basil (sometimes known as Thai basil, apparently). Anyone else grown this? Does it behave the same as mediterranean basil??
Herbs - best places to grow
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Chantal
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Hi Mazmezroz
I've grown purple basil this year, although my main basil crop is the big green leaved variety. I've grown it in the past but it's never done very well, I don't know why as I've treated it just the same, so I'm giving it another go. I usually keep all my basil in the greenhouse but if the summer gets really hot like last year, it's going to the allotment.
Do slugs eat herbs? They've never touched any of mine; I assumed they didn't like the taste.
I've grown purple basil this year, although my main basil crop is the big green leaved variety. I've grown it in the past but it's never done very well, I don't know why as I've treated it just the same, so I'm giving it another go. I usually keep all my basil in the greenhouse but if the summer gets really hot like last year, it's going to the allotment.
Do slugs eat herbs? They've never touched any of mine; I assumed they didn't like the taste.
Chantal
I know this corner of the earth, it smiles for me...
I know this corner of the earth, it smiles for me...
Hi Mazmezroz,
we grow purple sage in a flower bed, in amongst roses, lavender, and Rosemary. We don't give it ANY care or attention, apart from compost mulching and a bit of a trim along with the rest of the flower bed in autumn. It's been there several years, is very succesful, and seems fully hardy. At least, when there is frost on the leaves, it doesn't seem to die, and behaves more like the rosemary, forming a nice thick bushy plant. The spring/summer leaves seem to have more flavour, when young, but winter picked leaves are still very good - better than dried herbs anyway!
All other herbs I grow in pots or troughs, in any space I can find. Never in full shade, but not always in full sun.
I find that the harder the leaf, the more it can withstand neglect without wilting or bolting to seed before harvest. The softer the leaf, the more it requires care. This is just my own rule of thumb, but it seems to work in my garden!
we grow purple sage in a flower bed, in amongst roses, lavender, and Rosemary. We don't give it ANY care or attention, apart from compost mulching and a bit of a trim along with the rest of the flower bed in autumn. It's been there several years, is very succesful, and seems fully hardy. At least, when there is frost on the leaves, it doesn't seem to die, and behaves more like the rosemary, forming a nice thick bushy plant. The spring/summer leaves seem to have more flavour, when young, but winter picked leaves are still very good - better than dried herbs anyway!
All other herbs I grow in pots or troughs, in any space I can find. Never in full shade, but not always in full sun.
I find that the harder the leaf, the more it can withstand neglect without wilting or bolting to seed before harvest. The softer the leaf, the more it requires care. This is just my own rule of thumb, but it seems to work in my garden!
Hi GaGa,
Sage has a terrible habit of just dropping dead and when they get old and you think they are with you forever the buggers peg out on you.
For this reason I always take cuttings just in case and when I am sure that it is with us for another year I give the cuttings away or simple wop another Sage or three in somewhere.
The main one I have is magnificent when it goes into bloom and an absolute picture I should think it is at least 4ft across.
I have herb bed which is in full sunlight and never ever gets the attention it really deserves but they seen to thrive nonetheless.
JB.
Sage has a terrible habit of just dropping dead and when they get old and you think they are with you forever the buggers peg out on you.
For this reason I always take cuttings just in case and when I am sure that it is with us for another year I give the cuttings away or simple wop another Sage or three in somewhere.
The main one I have is magnificent when it goes into bloom and an absolute picture I should think it is at least 4ft across.
I have herb bed which is in full sunlight and never ever gets the attention it really deserves but they seen to thrive nonetheless.
JB.
Interesting about the purple basil - this morning, all my green basil seedlings I've planted out have been eaten by slugs (so they obviously don't mind the flavour, at all!) but the purple ones are still looking v. healthy. Coriander has likewise disappeared outside overnight. Good job I've got contingency plants. The outside ones were an experiment.
In my previous house/garden I had two HUGE sage plants that I'd grown from seed. There was no stopping them. If I cut them back at the beginning of spring, they just went mad. I have a couple of purple ones here in my new garden, but am going to take some cuttings as they're very woody.
In my previous house/garden I had two HUGE sage plants that I'd grown from seed. There was no stopping them. If I cut them back at the beginning of spring, they just went mad. I have a couple of purple ones here in my new garden, but am going to take some cuttings as they're very woody.
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cevenol jardin
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I grow quite a lot of Thai basil (3 varieties this year although 2 seem to be the same a naming issue i think) for the kitchen. I grow it in double rows as they can get quite tall 3ft or so and it helps stabalise in the wind. I grow it alongside basil and mizuna, i find it needs a little bit more space than large leaf italian basils, last years plants bushed out to about 35cm. I pinch out the growing tips, as with basil, when there are at least 4 leaf joints below and this makes them bush out. Nothing so far has bothered them and they seem to be tougher than med basil. I tried lifting and planting some of last years into the polytunnel last winter but no go - they were not that tough but worth a go. 
I also grow med basil alongside tomatoes as it is said to help the toms - not seen anything to contradict that statement yet.
I also grow med basil alongside tomatoes as it is said to help the toms - not seen anything to contradict that statement yet.
Getting closer to the land www.masdudiable.com
Thanks Johnboy,
that's a good tip - I'll take some cuttings and stick them in alongside the original. The original has been there 3 or 4 years, so if it suddenly keels over, at least I know I've got roughly another 3/4 years before the clone does the same!
that's a good tip - I'll take some cuttings and stick them in alongside the original. The original has been there 3 or 4 years, so if it suddenly keels over, at least I know I've got roughly another 3/4 years before the clone does the same!