Advice on herbs ?

Hi all,
I have been trying to grow herbs in a little section near conifers, my mint has been growing great, infact I have had trouble keeping it back, my chives are doing great but my basil and thyme keep dying, I have tried growing them several times and they just die off any advice or help would be great

 

Mint should really be planted in a bucket sunk into the ground, it is very invasive!

Basil I tend to grow in pots rather than in the ground.

It's my first year with thyme, so not sure.

But, I would say, if you are trying to grow them near conifers, the conifers will take all moisture and nutrients out of the soil. Perhaps you could choose another location?

 

Thyme really needs full sun. It gets very upset if it finds itself in the shadow of a larger neighbour and it wont put up a fight, it will just die.

Basil is a great softy. I reckon that one has suffered just because a 1mph breeze glanced at it as it was passing one day. Best indoors or in the greenhouse really.

 

Cheers for the advice I will look at all this in the new year. Maybe if I keep them in a long pot they might work, what are the best ones to keep together then ?

 

Rosemary, Thyme, Marjoram etc are all happy in similar conditions (sunny, very free draining soil).

Mint, Sage, Coriander are examples of herbs that are happy with some shade. They want some sun, but wont care if for a few hours a day they are in the shadow of another plant/tree. They will also tolerate more damp soil conditions, and indeed contrary to the standard advice, I find coriander actually does better in light shade with damp soil, if you give it the text book conditions (full sun) it just bolts.

Basil just wants to live indoors.

What herbs do you want to grow?

 

I'm looking at growing Thyme, Rosemary, Parsley, Basil, Chives, Sage, Marjoram, I have mint. After these start growing I want to look at Chillies, Peppers and even try Asparagus and Ginger again as they died off last year. As you can see I like my cooking lol. So far I have Blueberries, Raspberries, Lavender, Strawberries, Mint and have Grapes on the go but they don't seem to be doing that well.

 

I've not grown everything on your list, but here goes with my experience of the ones I have grown.

Thyme. Absolutely needs full sun. It is wont tolerate shade at all. Soil needs to drain freely. Not much trouble from pests. Just make sure you harvest it regularly otherwise it goes woody and horrible.

Rosemary. There's a bit of folklore that Rosemary thrives if the lady of the house is the boss, less so if the man of the house is boss. Can't be true though because it always does alright for me Like Thyme, it needs the sunniest spare you can spare it. It can't stand being too wet (too wet is much more likely to kill than too dry). It is extremely drought hardy once established. Make sure you cut the sprigs down to about 1/3rd of their length at least once a year, otherwise you end up with thick woody stems with short sprigs coming off that are fiddly to collect.

Parsley. There's some superstition about the root having to go down to the devil before the top will grow. It does take a while to germinate and it does have a massive tap root. Unlike the first two, it will happily thrive in moist/damp ground, and will tolerate some shade as long as it gets some sunshine for part of the day. Beware when planning where to put it. If you put it in open ground it grows A LOT bigger than when you grow it in pots. Mine gets to about 4ft tall and maybe 1ft span. It is biennial meaning it goes rubbish then dies in its second year, but you can delay that by regularly harvesting the tops so it doesn't get chance to flower. Let some flower though for the seeds.

Basil. Likes moist (but not soggy wet) soil, and full sun. Its a proper softy, keep it indoors and if the weather forecast is bad, don't even let it see the telly.

Chives. Never grown them. They're related to onions (allium) is about all I know.

Sage. The text books say full sun, but it will take part shade but there's one condition. There needs to be good air flow around the foliage because it is vulnerably to a horrid fungal lurgy (grey mould?). Keep it in soil where at least the top inch or two stays dry most of the time, and harvest it regularly. If its happy it will quickly get too big for its boots. Easily dealt with just by cutting it back in spring or autumn. You can cut it quite low, just make sure you don't cut below the lowest 3 or 4 buds or branches on the plant. Let some branches produce flowers. It does no harm at all to the plant, and the flowers are really nice, and extremely popular with bumblebees too.

Marjoram. I think this fellow is closely related to Thyme and Oregano. I grew it once, but I must admit I forgot I had it and it fell as collateral damage during BWW1. Last I saw, it was doing alright in a sunny, dry part of my garden.

Mint. Prefers sun but will happily take part shade. Not too fussy at all really, hence its reputation for becoming invasive. Cut it low regularly in order to encourage lots of fresh, bushy growth, otherwise it goes leggy.

Lavender. Similar conditions and treatment to Rosemary (they're related), but Lavender will tolerate more shade than Rosemary.

 

Really?

*move over Mr Mum, do as you're told; now! I want my rosemary's to take off*