Post by whisker on Aug 9, 2011 5:27:37 GMT
IT'S not enough for plants to sit around looking pretty.
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.
Some, however, do more than their day job and act as living “green” pesticides. Mint, for example, repels flies, Greek oregano wards off mosquitos and midges and crushed leaves of Mentha pulegium (pennyroyal) rubbed along the threshold of your kitchen or conservatory discourages ants.
Others are handy for barbecues. Long, straight rosemary twigs make great kebab skewers when stripped of their leaves and chewing parsley is the natural antidote when you’ve been eating garlic.
A whole herb garden would be wonderful but where space is limited use containers.
Sage, rosemary, marjoram and thyme make brilliant patio plants and decorative varieties of the culinary kinds look especially stunning in wooden boxes.
Purple sage, golden-variegated and tricolour sage (the glamorous pink, cream and green version), variegated
thyme and gilded rosemary (the gold-splashed sort) look good grouped together and make great backdrops for lavenders.
The culinary French lavender or Hidcote are the best for tubs: the large sprawling cottage garden varieties get too unruly.
British-style herbs such as chives, parsley, mint, tarragon and sorrel also do well in tubs or troughs but are happier in cooler, shadier conditions.
Use a richer, heavier, more moistureretentive compost such as John Innes No 3 and park them in a place that gets sun for only part of the day and not during the hottest lunchtime slot.
Where space is tight grow compact herbs in a tall, upright tower pot or multi-pocketed strawberry planter.
Grow the shade-lovers nearest to the wall, with the Mediterranean herbs all arranged on the sunny side.
Alternatively, create a stylish hanging basket 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).
Sow frost-tender herbs such as basils and scented-leaved pelargoniums indoors now and use different varieties in
individual pots as fragrant “centrepieces” for patio tables.
So next time you’re planting containers think dual-purpose.
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.
Some, however, do more than their day job and act as living “green” pesticides. Mint, for example, repels flies, Greek oregano wards off mosquitos and midges and crushed leaves of Mentha pulegium (pennyroyal) rubbed along the threshold of your kitchen or conservatory discourages ants.
Others are handy for barbecues. Long, straight rosemary twigs make great kebab skewers when stripped of their leaves and chewing parsley is the natural antidote when you’ve been eating garlic.
A whole herb garden would be wonderful but where space is limited use containers.
Sage, rosemary, marjoram and thyme make brilliant patio plants and decorative varieties of the culinary kinds look especially stunning in wooden boxes.
Purple sage, golden-variegated and tricolour sage (the glamorous pink, cream and green version), variegated
thyme and gilded rosemary (the gold-splashed sort) look good grouped together and make great backdrops for lavenders.
The culinary French lavender or Hidcote are the best for tubs: the large sprawling cottage garden varieties get too unruly.
British-style herbs such as chives, parsley, mint, tarragon and sorrel also do well in tubs or troughs but are happier in cooler, shadier conditions.
Use a richer, heavier, more moistureretentive compost such as John Innes No 3 and park them in a place that gets sun for only part of the day and not during the hottest lunchtime slot.
Where space is tight grow compact herbs in a tall, upright tower pot or multi-pocketed strawberry planter.
Grow the shade-lovers nearest to the wall, with the Mediterranean herbs all arranged on the sunny side.
Alternatively, create a stylish hanging basket 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).
Sow frost-tender herbs such as basils and scented-leaved pelargoniums indoors now and use different varieties in
individual pots as fragrant “centrepieces” for patio tables.
So next time you’re planting containers think dual-purpose.