Herb Garden In Pots - Timing Question

Hello

I have a specific beginner's question regarding a herb garden I am trying to start in containers in the UK (North-West England). I have recently bought the herbs listed below in pots from the garden centre. I plan to grow them in a sunny yard in troughs. I have assimilated some knowledge as to what I should be doing, but some of it is taking time to piece together. I believe that I may have bought these plants a few weeks too early, as the last frost in my area is late April/early May. I would like to ask for suggestions as to what I should do at this point, and answers may be species specific if possible. I have 3 basic options to choose from.

1) Leave the plants in their original pots. Keep them indoors at a window and watered (with good drainage) until the frost date, then transfer to troughs and put them outside.

2) Transfer the plants from their pots to the trough right now, then keep them inside until the frost date.

3) Transfer the plants from their pots to the trough right now and put the trough outside.

Rosemary Thyme Mint Sage Chives Parsley Bay (Kitchen Bay) Marjoram Oregano French Tarragon Dill Rocket

Reply to
RioBravo
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Most of those should handle a light frost. I would go for (3) and throw a blanket over them if it looks like being a really cold night.

D
Reply to
David Hare-Scott

To start I would group them on water needs. For example mint likes to be damp and will stand being wet but rosemary likes excellent drainage and to get fairly dry between watering. However there is another issue that some like rosemary form a perennial shrub up to about 1.5m high where others like rocket are annuals only 20-30cm. So the rosemary might, for example, be better off in a larger tub on its own where it will not be disturbed. If by kitchen bay you mean laurus nobilis it grows into a sizeable tree which is hardly suitable for a trough. There is no one size fits all here. Study all the labels and/or get a book on herbs from the local library for all their different preferences.

Most herbs are not heavy feeders and there is nothing to be gained by trying to force them on. Some will be fine on the nutrients in the (I assume) fresh potting mix others that last more than one season may need topping up each year with a _little_ general fertiliser.

David

Reply to
David Hare-Scott

Thank you for all of the advice.

Reply to
RioBravo

All of the advice so far is very good. From my own herb growing experience, the rosemary, mint, sage, parsley, and oregano can overwinter even through snow if properly mulched and are essentially perennials even in zones 5 and 6.

The Thyme, Marjoram and Dill are all more tender and a real hard frost on any can kill them. Avoid this with a blanket, mulch, straw etc.

The rosemary and the bay are really woody plants and probably deserve ultimately their own space. (See earlier comments.)

Good luck! Nice selection to start.

Reply to
rhubarb

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