Herb Gardens!

[Autumn-Forest]

I'm going to plan an herb garden very soon and I was wondering what everyone has in their gardens. What has worked for you? Any must have herbs? Help me out here, I haven't planted herbs before!

be well
Autumn

[Shanti]

I just let the wild herbs grow, AKA weeds. No tending needed. :)

I read the uses for indigenous species and go with what nature naturally supplies in my region. The wild plant life has many uses.
No need for a garden. I just dont mow or tend anything.

[SSanf]

Still experimenting with this. I have about 30 varieties planted. Last year, they grew but I had no idea that you had to pick the leaves before they flowered. So, I screwed it all up.

I tried to winter over some. Some made it in planters inside and some just died. I think, maybe, I should have watered them. Also, some plants do just die in the fall. The ones that did winter over have a nice head start.

The seeds I saved aren't really germinating so I am using left overs from last year. Don't know what the problem with the saved seeds is. But, to continue, I need viable seed since they cost so much. Maybe, I should have frozen them. You must with some plants so they think winter came and left.

I will try that this year.

St. John's Wort never germinated even with the store boughten seeds. Don't understand that at all.

Keep us posted on your progress.

[Autumn-Forest]

I still have no idea what I am going to plant. What is the most useful? What is something a witch must have, in your opinion?

be well,
Autumn

[Ceres]

My favorites are spearmint, lemon balm, rosemary, sage, parsley, thyme, dill, basil and oregano. I recommend you put any of the mint family (lemon balm, spearmint, catmint ect) into a planter or three or they take over your garden. My mother had spearmint on the sunny side of her house that she tried unsuccessfully to kill for the thirty years she lived there.
:lol:

[ap Dafydd]

I've been successful with a number of herbs, balm, sorrel, horseradish, mint, marjoram, sage, rosemary, lavender have all done ok.

Only one that's ever behaved invasively is the marjoram!

gwyn eich byd

Ffred

[aloha_island_mama]

I've done the best with sage, rosemary, lavender, mint, parsley, basil and oegano

[Glowy]

I love this thread. I have lavender planted by the gate for luck. I have oregano, mint, cilantro, rosemary and thyme in pots around the patio so I can pick them if we are grilling. I have a ton of perennials in my garden and a lot of ferns because my yard is shaded. I plan eon potting nickatina which is a plant, but it smells so great. It is nice to keep it on the table.

[Flaire-FireStar]

I've only had luck with sage, chives, thyme, parsley and (ee!) mint.

A few years ago I tried rosemary, oregano and basil but none of it grew. :dis:

[Ceres]

I love this thread. I have lavender planted by the gate for luck.

I planted a hedge with Lavender, made from about ten plants along the path to my front door in imitation of the same in a garden that I admired. It was only later, after it was growing well that I heard it was lucky to plant at your entrance.

[BrightStar]

Hi all!!
I think every yard is a little bit different.I know what grows in my yard,won't necessarily grow in my friends' yard who live around the corner.So,we trade!

I had lemon balm higher than my knees yesterday,and just cut it all way back.Wintergreen,the sage is a bush,lavender,parsley,rosemary and thyme.Lots of oregano.Also an area of wild garlic.It's all planted in a circle around a cairn made of huge crystals.It's become somewhat of a faery garden,especially active at full moons.
It's neat,because,a few years ago,that area of my yard was gravel.I guess they like the dry ground,and it does drain well there.
Also have some basil in a pot on my deck,as I usually take it inside for the winter.
For me,it's all been trial and error.Some years stuff doesn't make it,but I also find out what is hardy enough to make it in my yard,and my little part of the US.They always say 'full sun',but Oklahoma's July/August sun sure can kill them,especially when it's 100 plus for many days in a row.So,I actually have a lot of shade around the herb garden.

Peace and Love
BrightStar

[Tanya]

any place i put down roots its got to be:
mint,
basil,
parsley,
thyme
cilantro
oregano
aloe vera
chives
garlic
nasturtium
and catnip.
... eating herbs essentially and a 1st Aid medicinal.

after that....

lavender,
roses,
rosemary,
sage,
juniper,
bergamont,
salvia,
margoram,
tansy,
tarragon,
pennyroyal
horseradish
pyrthreum
wormwood
violets
foxglove
lupin
chicory
lady's thumb print
toadflax
lemon balm
hen and chicks
calendula
and southern wood..

things I don't eat often, or are medicinals.

as a permaculturist, I focus on perennials, and multi use plants(which is really the same concept which created traditional cottage gardens with mixtures of flowers and herb... knowing of course all herbs flower!).

Things like roses look and smell lovely, plus you can add them to salads, use them in sachtes, grind flowers into soaps, and make tea from the hips.





All grow pretty easily and are frost tolerant excepting basil.