Herbs for beginners?

hideme

Anyone have suggestions which herbs are best for beginners to start out with growing? Looking for something fairly low maintanence.

Texas77again

i just planted oregano, parsley and cilantro last night.  we are doing it inside at first to get them started.  i'll let you know!

raeyn

Mint is easy and tends to grow really fast, but realistically most herbs are fine for beginners if you've got a reasonably sunny spot with good drainage. Pick the ones that you think you'll really use.

goldenjes

Mint is easy here but you have to be careful or it will take over.  I wouldn't plant it directly in the ground for that reason.

I had purple basil planted in the garden next to tomatoes last year.  They did ok, but didn't need as much water as tomatoes, so I'll move it this year.

hideme

Thanks for the replies!
I was thinking about starting with parsley, basil, thyme and chive since that's what I use the most. Are these relatively low maintanence plants?

juno

If you were my neighbor and you put mint in the ground, you'd have a new enemy!  Oregano and flat leaf parsley grow in our yard with no help.  Thyme is also really easy for us (we grow several kinds in our ornmental beds).  But I'm not sure if that's a function of where we live.

LSU628

My oregano survived two snows and no watering this winter. My parsley, mint, and sage are also coming back so i would say they are very low maintenance and easy since I did nothing to them all winter long.

hbarbour

Rosemary, sage and lavender are also pretty easy and beautiful and once established need very little h2o to maintain. You can let rosemary and lavender grow into a full sized shrubs or just keep them trimmed back to whatever size you like. With lavender, there are so many different kinds (English/Spanish etc), and after a few years, you can dry it for craft uses or for putting in drawers, or use it for cooking. Bees just love it too (good if you want to help pollinators in your garden!). Good luck!

hideme

Awesome! I think I may need to add lavender to the list. Thanks for everyone's replies!

juno

hideme:

Awesome! I think I may need to add lavender to the list. Thanks for everyone's replies!

I have a word of caution about lavender.  Be sure you read up on proper pruning, which you must begin early in the plant's life.  If you just let it go, it will become woody and unsightly, with open an center.  Once it's woody, it will likely die if try you prune it down past the woody stems.  I've dealt with this with some lavender left by the former owner of our house.  I haven't quite got the art down completely because I'm a lazy gardener and don't do it often or thoroughly enough.  I've found that the smaller English lavenders don't become as woody.  It is true that they are all very drought tolerent.

hideme

On second thought maybe I'll skip the lavender!

hoping4septimus

Depending where you live rosemary might be a year round plant. It is in TN. When I lived in MA I left it in a big pot and brought it inside for winter. My herb garden is just doing its own thing these day. Cilantro grows like a weed. I don't plant seeds. Seeds from last year just grow, same with parsely and basil.

hbarbour

Oh, I'd say go for the lavender. I've had a big English lavender shrub for five years...started from a small nursery plant and it's 2x2 now and holding. I do nothing to maintain it and it's beautiful...maybe in five more years I'll have the problem with it becoming woody, but lots of perennials/shrubs/etc can have probs as they age. As with all gardening, nothing ventured, nothing gained!!!