Making a herb garden
QWe’ve decided to make our small, sunny, south-facing back garden into a herb garden with edible flowers. For this, we’ll need a lot of plants. What perennial herbs can we raise from seed?
AHerbs look great in generous swathes and Mediterranean types will love your sunny plot, especially if soil is well drained. You’ll soon have a haze of drought-tolerant aromatics whose nectar-rich flowers will attract pollinating insects. Most bloom from early summer to the autumn, but rosemary often flowers during mild winter spells and evergreen kinds such as bay have a year-round presence.
Any gaps can be plugged by edible flowers, starting with primroses early in the year. For a backbone of shrubs, use Szechuan pepper, roses (for their edible petals) and low-growing dyer’s greenweed (Genista tinctoria).
Raising plants from seed yields speedy results and will deliver the large numbers you need for edging borders and filling beds. Tried-and-tested species for culinary use include common sage (Salvia officinalis), thyme (Thymus vulgaris), fennel (Foeniculum vulgare), Lavandula angustifolia ‘Hidcote’, chives
(Allium schoenoprasum) and winter savory (Satureja montana).
Decorative and aromatic anise hyssop
(Agastache foeniculum) is easy from seed. Try lesser calamint (Calamintha nepeta) for sharp scent and small pinkish-purple flowers, plus the orangescented lemon balm ‘Mandarina’. Add wild bergamot (Monarda fistulosa) for showy pink flowers and leaves for flavouring tea. Both pot marjoram
(Origanum onites) and Greek oregano (O. vulgare subsp. hitrum) are available as seeds. Fill shady corners with sweet woodruff (Galium odoratum).
For successful germination, invest in the best peat-free compost you can buy. For small seeds, create a smooth, moist surface in pots or seed trays and sow thinly and evenly. When large enough to handle, transfer them singly to small pots, modules, or grid-fashion in a tray. Larger seeds can be sown one per module or fibre pot.
From seedlings transplanted one per pot, these plants of common sage are well grown and ready for planting in generous groups. Try leaves fried in butter as a garnish.
The sage plants have made a soft-green backdrop dotted with purple flowers to pinks (yielding edible petals) added as young plants. Both are easily propagated by cuttings.
Fennel seedlings resent root disturbance, so either sow direct or set two seeds per module, thinning to one afterwards. I’m using pots made from newspaper.