beginners question, sorry!

Just wondering - i am hoping to grow some herbs in my garden. are they better in pots or in beds? And together or scattered in the garden.

Thought I'd better ask the experts!!

 

They say herbs should be beside the back door mztouble, so i would say in pots

 

As young daisy says handy near the back door I used to have some in a hanging basket near the back door handy for snipping off, you can grow them in pots a lot of them have a habit of seeding and spreading everywhere.

 

I`d use a strawberry pot. You should get quite a few herbs in that.

 

I second David - I've got a strawberry pot ready to put herbs in. I'll be putting my big rosemary in the top, but my mum has lavender in hers.

 

Been shopping in Wilkos today, Bought two of these,Standard Bay. reduced to �£10, were �£20. Also bought the pots there, �£6.99. one had a chip at the base, so they reduced it to �£4.00..



There going either side of the back Door..not a great pic, its dull outside, the pots are a lovely bright red..

 

Good purchases, Cutie.

I have a bay laurel that a friend gave me when we were at the IoW. It was about 30cms tall but is now about 120cms. I have it in a pot.

When we were over there one summer, my neighbour asked me if she could come pick some leaves in my absence, so I said of course. I was horrified when I came back after several months to discover she had been taking leaves from the top, ie, pinching it out (she knows zero about gardening) and that two new stems had shot from the base. Undaunted by this, I plaited the three and it has a nice effect plus has grown into a pyramid shape on its own.

I use it a lot in cooking.

The only thing I would say to you is that every year mine get sooty mould caused by the sticky honey-like substance left by insects then this black stuff adhers to it. For two years now I have cleaned the shrub, leaf by leaf with soapy water. It doesn't kill the plant, just creates a photosynthesis problem and the leaves go pale. I think perhaps this could be avoided by hosing the leaves of the plant a lot ... but then again, in the UK maybe it's just wet enough not to get this problem. :D

Will you trim yours into a ball shape for effect?

 

Sooty mould is caused by aphids secreting " honeydew" The mould then grows on this giving an unsightly appearance. Ideally, it should be sprayed with a fungicide to kill the spoors, and then washed off. Only in very extreme circumstances will the plant die.

 

Also scale insect David.

The main cause I find these days.

 

I didn`t realsise that Pete, but surely that would be more on the stems than the leaves?

 

I'm pretty sure that the sooty mould on my camelias and my citrus plants is due to scale insect rather than aphids.
The honey dew gets scattered on the leaves, but the scale attach themselves to the stems and the leaf midribs, usually on the underside.

 

I don`t know Pete, I always thought scale insects were like Limpets, once they have attached themselves that is where they stay. I think you have scale insects AND aphids.

 

Oh they stay where they are, they dont move about after the crawler stage.
Scale insect will at some stage become a greater pest, as far as I'm concerned, than RSM, and thats bad enough.

Aphids? I just laugh at them. :D

 

Okay, I`m going to show my ignorance now. What is RSM?

 

Goodness, this has progressed ...

What I've had from this sticky honeylike substance and then black gook, I also had the scale thing on the backside of the leaf. This is why I've diligently washed every leaf off a 120cm shrub much to the admiration of my t'other half who says something like you must love that tree. :D

And I don't know what RSM is ... well, perhaps I do but not at this moment?