Thyme to plant your herbs

Shirley Lanigan says that growing herbs is one of the most popular forms of gardening, and even the amateur gardener can do quite well if they understand the basics of what each herb requires to flourish

Of all the different types of gardens there are, herb gardens are among the most popular. People whose interest in gardening is not even slight can often be persuaded of the charms of growing herbs.
One could speculate forever as to what the reasons for this might be but simply put, herbs are easy to fall for. Whether it is herbs for cooking, medicine or cosmetic use, they are certainly plants that give full value.
Not only do they look and smell good growing, there are a whole host of uses they can be put to after they have given value out in the garden. In many instances, growing a few herbs is the gateway to gardening proper. And any gateway into the garden is a welcome one.
An easy to love plant
When you do a first-word-into-your-mind association test with someone, ‘rose’ will usually accompany ‘flower.’ ‘Lavender’ is the word most associated with the word ‘herb.’ The scent, the gorgeous soft petal shades and the beautiful mounding shape lavender creates make it an easy-to-love plant.
Unfortunately for most of us living in Ireland, lavender is probably the herb that will cause us the most trouble to grow, should we try. The trouble with lavender lies in the very connotations that go with it – heat, warmth, sun and the south of France. Heat, sun and dry air are unfortunately generally not common in Ireland.
Over the past two summers they have been in particular short supply. And lavender is, to put it mildly, not at home in the sort of warm, damp conditions that has dominated our summers recently. When you do see lavender doing well in Ireland it is generally in a hot spot or sun-trap. A sun-trap against a wall is probably the best location to give it.
Treat it mean
Add to this a free draining, gritty, even stony soil. Do not plant it in fertile or well worked, loamy, compost-rich soil. Treat it mean and keep it keen would be the advice when growing lavender. If you can give it those conditions, grow lavender by all means. If those conditions pertain outside your window, front or back doors, so much the better.
The scent will waft into the house and rise up when you rub up against it as you walk by. If your conditions are too rich, get used to the idea that you will need to replace your lavender plants every year or two as they begin to flag. Generally thought of as a herb for perfume, pot pourri and the like, I was recently fed lavender biscuits, and they tasted so good I decided I had to learn how to cook them.
If lavender springs to mind first, parsley arrives quickly on its tail. No kitchen can do without parsley and no garden should be without it. Grown in utilitarian lines in the vegetable garden, it will perform well, of course. But parsley is such a decorative plant it can be grown in the flower border too.
Its substantial froth of leaves make a good foil to so many flowers. It looks great in pots or containers and it holds itself up, looking good, for a long period. It used to be said that parsley only grew in households where there is a witch. Some say it is hard to germinate, but try it.
Several gardeners I know recommend scalding it with hot water for a few seconds to break dormancy.
Another way to do this is to soak the seed overnight in warm water. It can be sown from late spring until the end of August, thinly, about 2cm deep in good fertile soil.
Flat Italian parsley has become all the rage in the kitchen, but after a few years of growing it, I have come to the conclusion that our old curly variety is just as tasty and certainly a lot more decorative looking.
Thyme
Thyme is another herb that is easy to grow, useful in the kitchen and decorative. There are countless varieties. Choose the one that suits your circumstances. If you want lots of the stuff for cooking, choose Thymus vulgaris.
Its stems can grow up to 30 cms long, making it easier to strip of leaves. Grown in free draining soil in a warm situation, it will do best. Spread a layer of gravel or grit under the plant before planting it so that it doesn’t spend the wet winter with its feet in the damp. It hates this. The only problem with Thymus vulgaris is that it can look a bit untidy. It is not the neatest looking plant. But however, there are some beautiful species of thyme that can be used for their good looks as well as their culinary uses.
Thymus serphyllum ’Elfin’ is a low-growing species. It makes an interesting little hummock or pillow of tight green leaves. This habit means that it can earn its keep as a decorative plant in an alpine rockery, in a terracotta pot with a mulch of gravel around its neck or creeping out in a gravel bed. The little pink flowers in summer as an added attraction.
Thymes also come in silver and gold varieties. Thymus citriodorus ‘Silver Queen,’ is as its name suggests silver-leafed. The leaves have a silver outer margin. As its name also suggests, it is lemon-scented. Some people use it to make a tea. For cooking, it is particularly suited to use with fish or roast vegetables. ‘Golden King’ is similar but with gold margins on the leaves.
An alpine bed made up of a number of different thymes can be a really good looking feature. The alpine bed at Enniscoe Garden in Mayo has a lovely display of thyme let to roam over a sunny stony expanse.
Rosemary is a lovely shrub, sweetly scented and with pretty lilac coloured flowers. The only problem with rosemary is that it can often grow too tall for the position is planted in. Planted on a patio near the house for ease of access, it is preferable that the shrub stay tidy. If it gets too big in such a situation it can be a nuisance.
Drapes and dangles
Choose instead Rosmarinus officinalis ‘Prostratus’. This is a variety that drapes and dangles rather than reaching skywards. It is perfect to plant on top of a low wall by the barbeque or beside a patio. It too likes sun and dry hot conditions. So place it in a sweet spot and again, add a lot of grit to the soil if your soil is rich and moisture retentive.
A dislike of damp and cold is something many of the herbs we love have in common with each other. Many are native to the Mediterranean. Their slim or tiny, needle-like and waxy leaves are witness to that. Waxy, small and needle-like leaves are designed specifically to protect from evaporation and water loss.
It is a safe bet that a plant with these will fare best in your driest, sunniest spot. They will not love life in a bog garden. And whenever you come across a sad-looking lavender hedge you can bet that it is not getting enough sun and probably living in a too-moist soil.
Sage
Outgrowing their space is something that a lot of shrubby herbs are prone to. Sage is the ultimate troublesome plant when it comes to growing. Sage has a habit of really spreading out and taking up space. One bush of it can sprawl out to nearly two metres across. This is a lot of space to give over to one herb in a small garden – even if it is good-looking.
If space is at a premium, go for a compact variety like ‘Kew Gold’, a golden-leafed variety that will stay neat and small. It grows up 30 cms with a spread of 45 cms. For a small green thyme choose Thymus officinale ‘Berggarten’ and obviously avoid a variety with something like ‘Holt’s Mammoth’ in its name.
While we often have to be careful when finding the perfect home for herbs, there are however a few herbs that really appreciate our damp and wet conditions. The mints are nicely at home in the dampest Irish soil. Look at the bigger, wider, flatter leaves many species of mint carry. They look ‘lush’. Lush-looking leaves are an indicator of a taste for water and humidity.
Mint
In stating that mint grows well, it should also be stated that it can grow too well. It is a plant that likes to spread and planted straight into the ground in your garden it will one day break your heart.
Grow it in containers within which its wandering roots can cause no trouble. If you want to grow mint in the ground, cut the bottom out of a bucket or large plastic pot. Sink this into the ground so that its neck is just 3 – 5 cms above level with the soil.
Fill it with soil and plant the mint into the centre of the container. Using a black container is the best idea as its rim will not be as noticeable on the top of the soil as other colours.
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Some interesting herb gardens around Ireland:
The Grey Abbey Physic Garden, Greyabbey, Co Down.
Kylemore Abbey Walled Garden, Kylemore Abbey, Connemara, Co Galway. www.kylemoreabbey.com
Gardens of Ireland Lavender Field. Kilmacanogue (Just off the N11 travelling south) visible on the left.
The Ballymaloe Cookery School Garden, Shannagarry, Midleton, Co Cork. www.cookingisfun.ie