Growing Herbs
Very often herbs are easy to grow and are adapted to the local conditions.
They are very often hardy and will happily grow in many conditions from containers, to gardens and they come from our wild environment.
Herbs are either:
- Perennial – They grow year after year from the root.
- Annual – They grow once from seeds.
- Bi-annual – They grow one year establishing roots and another flowering and producing seeds.
In this section I will cover the main ways to begin growing your own herbs:
- From Seed - This is best for annual & biannual varieties.
- From Cuttings - This is best for perennials.
- From Root Splitting - This is best for perennials.
Herbs tend to (for the most part) take very little care once they are established.
Aside from pruning, which you will do as you are harvesting them and watering in a particularly dry spell, herbs are normally pretty well evolve to survive many conditions.
Of course there are always anomalies and some plants are less tolerant than others.
But one of the reasons herbs are one of my favourite plant types is the reality they then to want to grow, grow well and grow through anything!
This can also make some varieties challenging if you don't pay your positioning of them well.
They can take over your growing space!
Herbs tend to thrive in a diverse environment and can be contained by growing them in pots or dedicated container spaces.
Some herbs grow as bushes/shrubs or small trees and they can get very large.
So do a little reading before you commit to planting your herbs and know what you are planting and it's potential for growth!
They very often want to be used and pruned so if you are not doing it they will grow at a rapid pace once established.
Diversity & Benefits of Adding Herbs
As a rule wildlife, insects and bees also love herbs!
Some herbs can be used to deter other life due to the properties they may have.
They are generally good for creating diverse garden systems and support our environment generally for this reason.
No Dig Growing
I avoid digging my soil as much as possible.
This is called no dig method.
This is because digging spoils the soil integrity, can damage other plants and waste unnecessary energy when it's not requirement for growing the plant.
The methods I cover are based on these methods.