Dividing and re-potting will keep these flavoursome plants healthy
For reasons of space and convenience we grow our hardy herbs in pots in a sunny, sheltered spot by the back door where they are easily accessible from the kitchen.
Most herbs grow very well in containers, which is especially invaluable if you use a lot of mint, for roast lamb, infusions or for cocktails, because it’s a thuggish plant and will rapidly take over a border given the whisker of a chance.
We have an assortment of mints in their own pots (if different varieties are grown together they lose their individual taste characteristics) and I love being able to pick different ones for different uses, the Pimms jug being a frequent recipient in summer!
After a hard winter, the pots were looking rather sorry for themselves so I have been sorting them out.
The bays were bedevilled by weeds, the chives were horrifically rootbound, the mint needed top dressing and the thyme was crying out to be cut back.
The chives were so congested that I ended up dividing the plant into three and potting up each section individually.
I used Dalefoot potting compost, a lovely comfrey-infused wool blend that needs less water than other composts and no additional fertiliser and which is a very good peat-free option.
The only perennial herb not already on the patio is a sage ‘Honey Melon’, that has sweetly aromatic leaves and vivid scarlet flowers. It is not frost-hardy, so spent winter in the greenhouse and will return outside when weather conditions are reliably kind.
What to do with herbs
It’s time to trim, re-pot and divide
1. Trim dead and shrivelled stems to keep plants tidy and healthy and to make room for new growth.
2. When repotting plants, like this bay tree, check the roots are healthy and carefully tease out any that are circling the rootball.
3. Whoops! I’d forgotten about the supermarket ginger I potted up last summer and overwintered in a bedroom. The roots look healthy so it’s been repotted and I’m keeping fingers crossed for new growth.
4. Another supermarket hack is to split potted herbs, like this parsley, and grow the divisions. More plants for free!
Keeping catmint under control
1. Our catmint, equally beloved by neighbourhood bees and felines, had started to spread around the border so I carefully dug up the rooted offshoots with a trowel to use as cuttings.
2. I dipped their ends in rooting powder and planted them up in gritty compost. Once the cuttings take I’ll pot them up individually and plant them out later in the year.
Find more tips, advice and articles like this at the Amateur Gardening website. Subscribe to Amateur Gardening magazine now
