Herb garden ?

HollyChubb

I thought I'd pop in over here on the G&L board and ask a quick 3 questions, if you ladies would be so kind as to offer your expertise! I want to plant a few herbs for a small container garden next year. When would I start to plant these? Should I be planting seeds and keeping them inside 1st, say, over winter or spring months? And finally are there any herbs that are easier to grow for a first time container gardener? I definitely want parsley and mint but others I am not sure of. I will be planting 6. TIA.

Inkful

I'm new to gardening (this year was my first growing season). I'd recommend buying seedlings froma reputable local nursery.  I tried growing parsley from seed unsuccessfully.  All of the herb plants that I purchased (sage, chives, thyme, rosemary) are thriving.

kastle

1. You can start seeds over the winter.  When you start them depends on your last frost date which you can usually find by Googling.  The packets of seeds will tell you how many weeks *before* last frost date you should start inside.  That said, for things other than say basil and parsley, I'd just by plants in the spring.

2. As long as you have plenty of sun, any herbs are pretty easy to grow in containers.  One tip would be to plant herbs that like similar conditions together.  Thyme & rosemary don't like being too wet; basil & mint like plenty of moisture.  Definitely make sure the mint has it's own container; otherwise it will take over & strangle the other plants.

elviebird

Basil is super easy to grow in a pot from seed.  They sprout like weeds and don't take any effort to maintain other than needing full sun and lots of water when they get bigger.  Chives also do well in a pot and come back every year on their own.  I also grew those from seed.

Parsley was difficult.  Only a few of my seeds sprouted and then they grow VERY slowly.  So buying established plants might be better.  We bought sage as seedlings and they have thrived.  Rosemary is a perennial and grows huge so you might not want to put that in a pot. Mint also is a perennial but will take over any space so it needs its own pot.  We have different varieties of thyme growing in our flower bed.  Since it's a ground cover I figured it needed more room to grow than a pot.

 

pugznploons

I don't start from seed as we don't get adequate light in our house in the winter/spring.  I usually buy all my plants at a charitable plant sale in April.  

I like basil, thyme, rosemary, oregano, parsley, and cilantro (but cilantro has a VERY short growing season)   

AmyLane542010

I have a similar question so I will post it here (sorry Holly for imposing on your thread) What herbs can be grown inside in a windowsill or should all herbs be put outside after a while? I live in an apt so I have no outside to put anything.

kastle

AmyLane542010:

I have a similar question so I will post it here (sorry Holly for imposing on your thread) What herbs can be grown inside in a windowsill or should all herbs be put outside after a while? I live in an apt so I have no outside to put anything.

 As long as your window gets a BUNCH of direct sunlight (like 6 hrs), you can grow any herbs inside.  I find basil particularly hard to grow inside, though.

If you don't get much direct light in your window, you'll have a hard time keeping most alive.  Although, mint might survive.  :P

AmyLane542010

Thanks Kastle!