Post by whisker on Jul 20, 2011 16:17:15 GMT
This is a good article..
by Alan Titchmarsh
It’s not enough for plants just to sit around looking pretty. Oh no. Nowadays our little green chums need to make themselves useful too. That’s why herbs are so popular; their compact shapes, flowers and fragrance are a delight in the garden, and their sophisticated good-taste works wonders in the kitchen. But some herbs do more than just their day-job.
Some double as living ‘green’ pesticides. Mint repels flies, Greek oregano wards off mosquitoes and midges, and crushed leaves of Mentha pulegium – pennyroyal – rubbed along the threshold to your kitchen or conservatory discourages ants from coming in, while lavender, in your wardrobe, makes clothes smell nice and deters clothes-moths.
Others are handy for barbecues; long straight rosemary twigs make great skewers to use for kebabs when they’ve been stripped of their leaves, and chewing parsley is the natural antidote when you’ve been eating garlic. Any half-decent herb manual will come up with dozens of other handy home-grown household hints that, between them, can save you some serious money over the year.
A whole herb garden would be wonderful, but where space is limited the smart way to grow herbs is in containers.
Evergreen Mediterranean-style herbs such as rosemary, sage, marjoram and thyme make brilliant patio plants as they enjoy full sun and well-drained conditions. Decorative varieties of the popular culinary kinds look especially stunning in containers and they are just as useful in the kitchen.
Purple sage, golden-variegated and tricolor sage (the glamorous pink, cream and green version), variegated thyme, and gilded rosemary (the gold-splashed sort) all look good grouped together, and they make great backdrops for lavenders; the dwarfer kinds such as ‘Hidcote’ or the culinary French lavender are the best for tubs – the large traditional sprawling cottage garden varieties get too unruly.
Plant them up any time now, using gritty, free-draining compost that’s not overloaded with nutrients; the same container lasts for several years before it needs re-doing.
More traditionally British-style herbs such as chives, parsley, mint, tarragon and sorrel also do well in tubs or troughs, but they are happier in cooler, shadier conditions. Use a richer, heavier, more moisture-retentive compost such as John Innes No.3 and park them in a place that only gets sun for part of the day and not during the hottest lunchtime slot.
Being perennials these die down in winter so they don’t look brilliant out-of-season, but when they’re grown in containers you can always move them aside temporarily. (Parsley in any case needs sowing annually, since it goes to seed in its second year and stops producing useable leaves).
But when space is very short, you can afford to be far more creative. Try growing all your favourite compact herbs in a tall, upright tower pot or multi-pocketed strawberry planter; grow the shade-lovers on the side that’s nearest to the wall, with the Mediterranean herbs all arranged on the sunny side.
Or create a stylish hanging basket that’s planted entirely with small culinary herbs (parsley, chervil, marjoram) and perhaps a few edible flowers (nasturtium, borage) or small salad leaves (frilly ‘Salad Bowl’ lettuce, rocket or purslane).
If you want to add frost-tender herbs such as basils and scented leaved pelargoniums to your display, you can sow indoors now, and use several different varieties in individual pots as fragrant ‘centrepieces’ for patio tables.
So next time you’re planting containers think dual-purpose. It’s a great way of having a spectacular show and eating it too.
WE SAY : For more info on growing and cooking with herbs, visit www.hannsherbs.co.uk
by Alan Titchmarsh
It’s not enough for plants just to sit around looking pretty. Oh no. Nowadays our little green chums need to make themselves useful too. That’s why herbs are so popular; their compact shapes, flowers and fragrance are a delight in the garden, and their sophisticated good-taste works wonders in the kitchen. But some herbs do more than just their day-job.
Some double as living ‘green’ pesticides. Mint repels flies, Greek oregano wards off mosquitoes and midges, and crushed leaves of Mentha pulegium – pennyroyal – rubbed along the threshold to your kitchen or conservatory discourages ants from coming in, while lavender, in your wardrobe, makes clothes smell nice and deters clothes-moths.
Others are handy for barbecues; long straight rosemary twigs make great skewers to use for kebabs when they’ve been stripped of their leaves, and chewing parsley is the natural antidote when you’ve been eating garlic. Any half-decent herb manual will come up with dozens of other handy home-grown household hints that, between them, can save you some serious money over the year.
A whole herb garden would be wonderful, but where space is limited the smart way to grow herbs is in containers.
Evergreen Mediterranean-style herbs such as rosemary, sage, marjoram and thyme make brilliant patio plants as they enjoy full sun and well-drained conditions. Decorative varieties of the popular culinary kinds look especially stunning in containers and they are just as useful in the kitchen.
Purple sage, golden-variegated and tricolor sage (the glamorous pink, cream and green version), variegated thyme, and gilded rosemary (the gold-splashed sort) all look good grouped together, and they make great backdrops for lavenders; the dwarfer kinds such as ‘Hidcote’ or the culinary French lavender are the best for tubs – the large traditional sprawling cottage garden varieties get too unruly.
Plant them up any time now, using gritty, free-draining compost that’s not overloaded with nutrients; the same container lasts for several years before it needs re-doing.
More traditionally British-style herbs such as chives, parsley, mint, tarragon and sorrel also do well in tubs or troughs, but they are happier in cooler, shadier conditions. Use a richer, heavier, more moisture-retentive compost such as John Innes No.3 and park them in a place that only gets sun for part of the day and not during the hottest lunchtime slot.
Being perennials these die down in winter so they don’t look brilliant out-of-season, but when they’re grown in containers you can always move them aside temporarily. (Parsley in any case needs sowing annually, since it goes to seed in its second year and stops producing useable leaves).
But when space is very short, you can afford to be far more creative. Try growing all your favourite compact herbs in a tall, upright tower pot or multi-pocketed strawberry planter; grow the shade-lovers on the side that’s nearest to the wall, with the Mediterranean herbs all arranged on the sunny side.
Or create a stylish hanging basket that’s planted entirely with small culinary herbs (parsley, chervil, marjoram) and perhaps a few edible flowers (nasturtium, borage) or small salad leaves (frilly ‘Salad Bowl’ lettuce, rocket or purslane).
If you want to add frost-tender herbs such as basils and scented leaved pelargoniums to your display, you can sow indoors now, and use several different varieties in individual pots as fragrant ‘centrepieces’ for patio tables.
So next time you’re planting containers think dual-purpose. It’s a great way of having a spectacular show and eating it too.
WE SAY : For more info on growing and cooking with herbs, visit www.hannsherbs.co.uk
