New and need advice!

[farmerswife]

Hi everyone

Well, I've been googling away for a few weeks now and have come across this site a few times.

I'm wanting to start a herb garden (for starters) and I would like to use the herbs preferably for cooking.

I haven't a clue where to start. I've read a few articles on starting a herb garden and I did actually get abit scared off the other week, thinking that it may be abit of hard work.

Therefore, can anyone recommend any good herbs to plant that would be easy to maintain?

Also, what time of year is best to plant the said herbs? A friend of mine said it is best to plant with a plant rather than seeds - is that right?

So many questions - I haven't a clue where to start. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance!

[airconednightmare]

hi and welcome

well, start with a herb you like to eat a lot of, no point in growing an easy one you don't like...

spring would be the best time generally speaking but that's just a rule of thumb for most plants.

seeds are cheap and normally free from any disease, pests etc but they will require more attention until they are established, plants save you time and effort but can also bring problems into the garden. it's personal choice at the end of the day.

[klevelyn]

Try Sage its a perennial and sweet basil a anneal. both are great in your cooking. I have some oregano in my garden as well. The sage and oregano are perennial and come back each year. The basil I plant each spring when the weather warms up around June.

I bought small plants from my local nursery. But most herbs start from seed if you start them indoors and then transplant outside.

There is nothing like fresh herbs for cooking or tea!

[solway cropper]

Perennial herbs are so easy to grow and you don't need pamper them. I have sage, rosemary, chives, marjoram, lavender, mint, thyme, etc. in a permanent herb bed and most of the annuals I grow in containers from fresh sowings each year.

[Pixel_Donkey]

Last year someone bought my dad a herb planter... a nice looking pot with various sprouts and lots of seeds. He tried growing them indoors and they came to nothing, I took it off his hands, poured in all the seeds and watched it a grow a bit more outside, the soil was some weird metallic material.

It was nice to see the various different herbs appear but it was such a mixture I didn't bother to identify each herb and ended up not eating them (shame really).

I bought some cheap Basil plants from Asda for 50p each which kept on growing throughout the summer and I loved the smell of them - I heard a myth they would repel flies from my plastic green houses but they didn't. I wonder if its just worth buying these plants and when it gets colder bring a small cutting to sit on the kitchen window.

This year I'll be using the pot again and using soil or whatever I can get my hands on and I'll probably buy some basil and mint. I like herbs because they get me thinking about cooking and how I can use them.

[sandyLampert]

Theres tonnes. Best place to start is your local supermarket with things like basel parsley chives. You can maybe even look in places like b&q for things like mint. If there out side in good weather, then they pretty much grow themselves.

[Peapod]

I think mint would be a great place to start. You can either start with planters or young starter plants. For your first time, I recommend starter plants.

[carrool]

dare i say that a lot of my herbs have been bought as living herbs from supermarkets. they are seedlings and there are about 10 in a pot.