Tower power! Thanks, Lesley, for sage advice

NOTHINGbeats barbecues and cocktails in the garden when the sun is out.

For both of these you need herbs, and not just a few lanky leaves, but great handfuls of tasty, fresh growth, rich in essential oils.

In my shady garden, growing enough herbs can be tricky. The cool conditions favour parsley and mint so I’ve got plenty of ingredients for herb butters and Mojitos, but for anything that needs a real baking, the conditions are far from ideal.

I mentioned the problem to Lesley Watson at New Hopetoun Gardens just outside Edinburh who, after quizzing me closely about where the sun hits my garden, came up with a clever solution.

Instead of trying to grow herbs in the ground, she suggested I create a Mediterranean herb tower that could sit in the small, south-facing patch in front of the house.

“Herb towers take up very little space, but you can grow a sizeable amount of produce in them and they provide the ideal conditions for herbs to flourish,” Lesley explained.

“The trick is to turn the tower every day so that everything gets the same sun exposure and to pick leaves and stalks regularly to encourage fresh growth.”

Lesley has become something of an expert at making herb towers and if you keep your eyes peeled you can spot them scattered around her garden centre.

Now, I’m really keen to strew thyme on the barbecue and cook lamb kebabs on rosemary skewers so I’ve been attempting to make my own herb tower and, thanks to some clever pointers from Lesley, it has been easy.

The first thing to do is to select three pots in varying sizes. Lesley recommends choosing one each of 25cm, 30cm and 40cm in diameter. Next, partially fill the largest pot with soil-based compost before sitting the middle-sized pot on top of it then filling the space between the two with rosemary, sage, flat-leafed and curly parsley, packing compost between the plants and firming them in well.

Once you’ve done that, place the smallest pot on top of the tower, filling the gap in the second layer with a selection of marjorams and oregano and adding compost as before.

Finally add the smallest pot, into which you can plant three different varieties of thyme, such as lemon, garden and broadleaf thyme, then fill with compost to within 2cm of the rim.

Once that’s done, place the tower in a sunny spot and water well.

And that’s it. You’ll have your own vertical herb garden that is compact enough to fit on any patio or balcony. This one is filled with evergreens, but you could just as easily have make a seasonal tower filled with chives and basil for potato and tomato salads, coriander for Thai curries and nasturtiums for their peppery flowers and leaves.