Hello all,
I have never had any luck with growing herbs, but I'd like to try again. My sister sent me an email, listing some herbs with nice fragrance. I have too much shade in the front yard, and the back yard isn't prepared, so I've decided to grow a container herb garden. Since I know nothing about herbs, I'd really appreciate any information you can give me about which herbs can be grown in a container, and which ones can be grown in the same container together. Also, which herbs will add a nice fragrance to my yard. I have some bee balm seeds that I'd love to use. Can it be grown in a container?
Container Herbs
I've had success growing cilantro, parsley, basil, oregano, mint, sage, rosemary, lavender, catnip, lemon balm, and sweet marjoram in containers. They all stay small, and have smaller leaves than the ones in the garden, but they still taste good. I grow herbs more for the flavor than the scent, but most of them smell nice if you brush against them. Basically, every herb I've tried in a container has done well for me :) My guess is that bee balm will grow ok in a container as it can't be too different from lemon balm.
I've never tried planting several herbs in one container, so I can't tell you which ones will work that way. I did notice that the catnip and oregeno eventually became a single plant growing in the container even if more than one seedling had been doing well to start with. So those would probably choke out other plants.
One thing to note - I live in zone 2b, in a fairly dry climate, and my containers all come inside during the winter. In the summer, the hottest temperature my plants generally have to deal with is about 100F and I keep them well watered then as containers can dry out quickly in the heat.
I've grown the following in containers in zone 6a, catnip, basil, sage, thyme, st. john's wort, soapwort, mint (chocolate and peppermint), rosemary, yarrow, echinacea (sp?), calendula, bee balm, oregano (don't overwater this one), chives, and valerian. For the most part they were in 3-4 gallon pots. In the summer many had to be watered every day during the hottest days. Using cinderblock allowed me to stagger the height of the pots and when they filled out they looked very nice. I've since planted all but the rosemary in the herb bed I prepared last year but they grew in pots for 3-4 years before that. As Spectrum said, they do tend to stay smaller which can be a good thing with some of the invasive mints.
I agree with the others. In a barrell by the garage door (so I can get to it even if it's raining) I have thyme, parsley, rosemary and will put in basil next week. Oregano likes to spread. Mint is invasive anywhere. I have mine in a nice wrought iron stand 3' off the ground. Bee Balm is, I believe, related to mint. Please don't give it a spot in the container or it will spread right to the edges. This is currently being discussed on a Monarda (Bee Balm) forum.
I removed the chives and gave them their own pot with a saucer below or they, too, will take over. I would also avoid planting catnip in the container unless you want cats rolling in your thyme, etc.
Good luck. Have fun and don't forget to smell and touch the herbs!
Thanks for all the advice. I posted this picture of my herb garden in a thread I started in the container gardens forum. I was showing them my new barrel planters, and they wanted updates of what I planted in them.
http://davesgarden.com/forums/fp.php?pid=1460413
I'm so glad I didn't plant any mints in there. I did get a container specifically for a mint garden. I put peppermint, chocolate mint, varigated pinapple mint, and something called Mint Kentucky Colonel. I put them all in the same container, thinking it would be interesting to see how they all mingle together when they grow. I'll take a picture of it tomorrow when it's daylight.
Way to go! The barrels look great. Hope I don't offend you when I ask you to buy one more small one and put the basil in it. The basil will get so big you won't have the sun hitting the rosemary to bring out all of the oils in it.
Great job with the mints. Congratulations! I did the same thing with my pot 3' off the earth. It's the way to go with growing mint. I love touching the leaves and sometimes rub one leaf of any of them in my palms as I garden. The chocolate mint does make me hungry for sweets.
A job well done! You deserve a gold star.
Thank you so much for the compliments. I was pretty proud of it, as it was my first one. No, it doesn't offend me at all for you to tell me about the basil. I welcome all the help and advice I can get. I had it in it's own container on a kitchen shelf, so I should put it back there. I have italian oregano, cilantro, and barbecue rosemary there. Can I replace any of these in the spot where the basil was?
Here is a pic of my mint garden....
Personally, I would do the rosemary. You aren't going to keep the basil in the kitchen are you? Give it a spot in the sun and it will love you, it will call your name, it will sing your praises and make everything you use it on taste better!
LOL! Ok. I'll find somewhere to put it outside.
Jennifer - your basil will love you SO MUCH! You could have one pot inside and some outside and test it for yourself: the outside basil will smell and taste better. Experience is the best teacher.
Enjoy it and remember to look under recipes and find some good ones and let us know!
Just saw the time you wrote and have to ask: do you stay up very late or get up very early?
Please go to the site that just says "Rosemary" under Herbs and read the comments about the oregano. This way I won't feel like a bossy wench!
I've gotten in the habit of staying up into the wee hours of the morning, going to sleep somewhere between 3 and 4 am, then sleeping until my dh gets home around noon. I get on here when it's too late to go outside, and periodically check in through the day to see if I've missed anything.
You're not a bossy wench. lol. I asked for advice, since I'm new to herbs, and I'm glad for all I can get.
If you ever buy horseradish roots be sure to put them in a container with a strong saucer below so they can't escape. It took us about three years to get all the roots out from the vegetable garden. They crossed the line between the herb garden and went under the double fence! Yikes!
Another nice one to try, if you like celery, is Lovage. Has to go in the earth - much too big for any saucer. When you run out of celery just grab some lovage.
I like tarragon and mine doesn't spread. I use the French Tarragon, much tastier to me than the Russian. Gives a little anise flavor to chicken dishes.
I love the sages: all of them. Just cut them back in spring. Remember to bring in a few branches in the fall for stuffings, stews, etc., especially pork dishes.
Love dill - a nice bunch of it is so good with shrimp and fish dishes. It does tend to self seed. Not a massive job to pull out the seedlings.
kerry_in_ky
I recently bought double pink soapwort. I thought that this could be used to wash your hands or stuff, I tried a leaf but it didn't suds up even a little. I don't know if it needs to get alot bigger or what. How does your plant work? Since you have it in a container it must not get very big?
-Juli
Juli, I'm not sure, but I thought I read somewhere that the "sudsy" part of soapwort was the root....
I don't have any. I have rosemary, basil, dill, lemon balm, lemon thyme, oregano, cilantro, and a mint garden....but now you've got me curious. I can't find soapwart here, but maybe somewhere out of town? Next time we go to Dallas, I might check.
Juli64,
I haven't tried but I believe critterologist is right it is the roots that have the sudsy quality. I just liked the pink flowers lol.
Oh ok, I thought the description said that the leaves and the flowers and the root could be used. I thought I had read somewhere that you could add the flowers to your laundry water too. Either way, mine is supposed to have double pink flowers so I usually like anything double flowered.
-Juli