Grow your own herb garden
Q
I would like to edge our many pathways with a low-growing mass of fragrant herbs. Which would you suggest, and how can we grow a lot of them without spending a fortune? Samantha Bingham, Dawley, Shrops A
This plan will deliver soft edges, flavourings, groundcover and flowers to attract many insects, with the added benefit of mouth-watering aromas as you brush past. Try widely spaced taller herbs such as sage, lavender and young rosemary plants, and fill the gaps between with lowgrowing culinary thymes. I remember a particularly floral June in our kitchen garden, when mounds of mauve flowers opened on common sage (Salvia officinalis) and thyme raised from seed.
For sheer numbers, seed is the answer. It is easily germinated by sowing thinly and evenly across the surface of moist compost in seed trays. As temperatures rise in spring, they will germinate well in a greenhouse or coldframe. I usually transplant thyme seedlings grid-fashion, 1½in (4cm) apart, in a seed tray of well-drained compost; for shrubby Mediterranean herbs, a mix of 50:50 multi-purpose and John Innes
No2 compost with 20% added grit works well. When large enough, plants are prised out for planting or potting. Set sage seedlings one per pot or module.
If you have a few existing herbs and want to bulk up numbers (especially of named cultivars not available from seed), take cuttings from spring to late summer. Keep thyme cuttings short, at 2-3in (58cm) long, and sage and rosemary 3-4in
(8-10cm), as they often root best pulled away with a small heel of older wood attached. Thyme cuttings root better without a cover, while sage, rosemary and lavender root well covered loosely with ventilated polythene and prevented from overheating.
Marjoram (Origanum) will develop a woody base but makes a mat of growth, and in addition to cuttings, good-sized clumps are easily lifted, divided and replanted as smaller portions. Our Greek oregano is a good culinary herb, and the mass of flowers will open late, extending the flowering season.