Dear Helen: My wife, a superb cook, is wanting a herb garden. She would like to have fresh chives, parsley, basil, rosemary, sage and thyme. Will these do well in a bed together?
F.L.
Not all the herbs your wife wants will thrive in the same conditions. Some require more moisture and a more robust soil than others.
Parsley and chives are among the herbs that thrive in a moist, humus-rich soil that will nurture an abundance of fresh foliage. Others in this group are cilantro, dill, and sorrel. They are all ideally suited for incorporating into the vegetable garden where they will be regularly watered.
Chives and sorrel are perennial plants, easily located at vegetable plot corners or with other perennial food plants like rhubarb or asparagus.
At the other end of the “needs” spectrum are the strongly aromatic Mediterranean herbs that are fine in dryish, lean soils. Only in sun, warmth, and dryish conditions are these plants able to create the desired concentration of aromatic oils in their foliage.
Three of the herbs you want — rosemary, sage, and thyme — belong to this group, along with oregano and lavender.
For these Mediterranean plants, select a fully sunny site that is not watered frequently and where the soil drains speedily of excess moisture. Prepare the site in modest fashion, without an overload of compost. If the soil is acidic, add a dusting of lime and bone meal. Often, perfect locations for these herbs are found along dryish edges of garden plots.
You might be interested in looking at the selections from Richters Herbs (richters.com), a Canadian source for an impressively wide number of herb plants, seeds, and products. Some varieties of the herbs you want are well suited for container cultivation, and having potted herbs on a deck or patio close to the kitchen can be very handy.
Richters, for example, has a dwarf sage and varieties of trailing rosemary that have done very well in pots on my patio. Among their thymes is a compact form of English thyme, which they describe as an excellent pot plant. It is listed simply as “Compact Thyme” (Thymus vulgaris ‘Compactus’).
Basil fits in between the Mediterranean herbs and those needing a rich, moist soil. Basil thrives in warmth and sun, like the Mediterranean herbs, but it needs a more fertile, humus-rich soil.
Many gardeners find basil, an essential tomato herb, difficult to grow. Using transplants, purchased or home-grown, is helpful, along with waiting until the air and soil temperatures have warmed in the spring. Around tomato transplanting time is about right — when overnight temperatures no longer dip below 10 C.
Personally, over the years I’ve found basil easiest to grow, problem-free, in containers on my patio, where it is also close at hand for clipping a handful for a salad or tomato dish.
Dear Helen: I’m noticing some browning and drying of leaves on my Mahonia media plants. What might be causing this, and what should I do about it?
W.W.
A certain amount of dieback can be expected on long established evergreen shrubs and trees. It is their means of renewal, by shedding older foliage stems.
Otherwise, usual causes of foliage browning include a dry soil, especially if combined with exposure to hot sun. The unseasonal heat and lack of rain last month were hard on our gardens as soils dried just when new growth was underway. Hot summer weather in April, though many people enjoyed it, was less than ideal for spring gardens.
Tall, ornamental Orgaon grape (Mahonia media) plants are generally trouble-free when grown in light shade with a moist but very well-drained soil. I would water thoroughly and follow the watering with a generous layer of a nourishing compost applied on the soil under and around the plants.
Spring plant sale. The Compost Education Centre is hosting its 10th annual all-organic spring plant sale on Saturday, May 8, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., at 1216 North Park St. in Victoria. The sale features local farmers offering vegetable, flower and herb seedlings. There will be heirloom tomato plants, berry bushes, fruiting shrubs, and companion plants like marigolds. COVID protocols will be in place and plants lists will be published in advance to allow gardeners to plan their purchases ahead of time. compost.bc.ca.
