Herb Garden Essentials: The 8 Herbs Worth Growing

Herb garden essentials covers the 8 herbs worth growing, and the sun, drainage and pruning each one needs to stay productive.

Herbs fall into two camps, and most failures come from treating them as one. Rosemary, thyme and oregano want sun, gritty soil and neglect. Basil, parsley, coriander and chives want steady moisture and richer ground. Get that split right, harvest by the one-third rule and eight herbs will keep a kitchen supplied from a few square metres or a handful of pots. This guide covers the two camps, pot and bed set-ups, cutting rules for each herb and which ones come back every year.

It sits in the Vegetables & Herbs guides and pairs with Container Vegetable Gardening, Companion Planting and How to Plant Seeds Step by Step.

At a glance: the eight herbs

The Mediterranean camp: dry, lean and sunny

Rosemary (Salvia rosmarinus), thyme and oregano come from hot, rocky hillsides. They need 6 to 8 hours of direct sun and fast drainage, and they taste best when slightly stressed, because rich soil produces soft, watery growth with fewer aromatic oils. Sage and lavender belong in this camp too.

In a pot, blend 1 part coarse grit or perlite with 2 parts potting mix, use terracotta if you can (it dries faster than plastic) and water only when the top 3 to 5 cm (1 to 2 in) is dry. Skip routine feeding: a half-strength liquid feed once in spring is plenty. In a bed, add grit to heavy clay or plant on a raised mound 15 to 20 cm high. Wet winter soil kills these herbs far more often than cold does.

• Rosemary: common forms usually tolerate about -10°C (14°F) in the ground, but potted roots freeze more easily, so move pots against a wall or into an unheated porch below that.
• Thyme: common thyme is typically hardy to about -15°C (5°F) if drainage is sharp. It turns woody after 3 to 4 years, so take cuttings to replace it (see Propagation by Cuttings).
• Oregano: flavour is stronger in hot, dry sun. Greek types are usually more pungent than the milder, showier ornamental forms, so taste before you buy.

The soft-leaf camp: moist and richer

Basil, parsley, coriander, chives and mint make fast, tender leaf growth and need water and nutrients to do it. Use ordinary potting mix with a handful of compost, keep it evenly damp (water when the top 2 cm is dry) and feed with a dilute liquid fertiliser every 2 to 4 weeks in the growing season.

• Basil is a heat crop. Growth stalls below about 12°C (54°F) and leaves blacken near 10°C (50°F). Sow or plant out only when nights stay above 10°C, and soil is around 18°C (64°F) or warmer.
• Parsley germinates slowly, typically 3 to 5 weeks, so sow into the pot where it will grow. It has a deep taproot and sulks when moved.
• Coriander also dislikes root disturbance. It bolts when days pass roughly 25°C (77°F) or lengthen, so sow in spring and autumn, not midsummer.
• Chives form clumps that you divide every 3 years or so in spring or autumn.

Pots or beds?

Plant both camps in the same bed only if you can separate them: a gritty, sunny end for rosemary and thyme, and a moister, slightly shadier end for parsley and chives. Otherwise one group is always wrong.

Perennial, biennial or annual: what to plan for

• Perennials (rosemary, thyme, oregano, chives, mint) are planted once. Renew thyme every few years, divide chives and oregano, and cut mint back hard in autumn.
• Annuals (basil, coriander, dill) finish after flowering. Sow every 3 to 4 weeks for a steady supply (see Succession Planting).
• Parsley is a biennial. In year two it runs to seed and the leaves turn bitter, so replace it after its first full season.

Harvesting: how much, where and when

The rule that protects every herb is the one-third limit: never remove more than a third of the plant at once. After that, the right cut depends on how the plant grows.

1. Basil: pinch stems just above a pair of leaves, leaving at least two pairs below. The two buds in those leaf joints become new branches. Remove flower spikes as they form.
2. Parsley and coriander: cut outer stems at the base and leave the centre to keep producing.
3. Chives: cut the whole clump to 3 to 5 cm above the soil. It regrows in 2 to 3 weeks.
4. Mint: cut stems back to about 5 cm above a leaf pair, and take the tips of flowering stems first.
5. Rosemary, thyme, oregano and sage: trim soft green tips, and cut back lightly after flowering. Always leave some green growth on every stem, because bare old wood rarely sprouts again.

Harvest in the morning once the dew has dried, when oil content is high. Soft-leaf herbs wilt fast, so cut them as you cook.

Preserving a surplus

Herbs indoors and over winter

A windowsill can carry soft-leaf herbs if it gets 6 hours of direct light; otherwise a grow light 20 to 30 cm above the plants for 12 to 14 hours a day fills the gap. Mediterranean herbs indoors need your brightest south-facing window and cool, dry conditions, so they usually do better outside. In cold-winter areas, bring basil in before nights fall below 10°C, and keep rosemary pots in an unheated, bright, frost-free spot, watering only enough to stop the mix turning to dust, roughly every 2 to 3 weeks.

Troubleshooting

What herbs need to stay productive in your garden and kitchen

Rosemary, thyme and sage need sharp drainage and full sun, because wet clay causes root rot, and grit improves heavy soil. Mint spreads aggressively and requires a container, while basil and parsley prefer richer compost and regular water. Cutting back chives and mint boosts fresh growth and stops flowering from making leaves bitter.

Basil attracts bee and repels whitefly near tomato, and chives repel aphid beside rose. Frost kills basil, so you shouldn’t set it out until nights stay above 10°C. Terracotta suits Mediterranean herbs because it dries quickly, while plastic holds water for mint and coriander. Light fertiliser is plenty, since too much nitrogen reduces flavour, and you’ll get stronger taste from lean soil. Dill and fennel attract hoverfly and lacewing, which control aphid across your beds, and oregano tolerates drought once its roots reach 30 cm. Pinching basil above the second pair of leaves every 2 weeks encourages bushy growth, and a harvest of no more than a third at once protects the plant. Rosemary and thyme need a trim after flowering to stop woody stems. Your extension service lists herbs that overwinter in your zone, and the container vegetable guide suits pots on a sunny step.

Common mistakes

• Treating all herbs alike. One watering routine will drown the Mediterranean group or parch the soft-leaf group. Pot them separately, or at least on different watering rules.
• Feeding rosemary and thyme. Rich soil gives lush but weak-flavoured growth and shortens the plant’s life. Feed lightly once a year at most.
• Planting mint in the open bed. The runners will cross the plot within two seasons and are hard to remove. Contain it from day one.
• Cutting woody herbs into bare wood. The plant often won’t regrow from it. Cut into green growth only.
• Sowing basil too early. Chilled seedlings stall for weeks, and a later sowing usually overtakes them.
• Stripping a plant in one go. Taking more than a third slows regrowth, and on a young plant it can set it back for a month.

Next steps

Set up pots with Container Vegetable Gardening, plan the beds with How to Start a Vegetable Garden from Scratch and match herbs to neighbours with Companion Planting. Back to Vegetables & Herbs.