Herbs That Take Over?

[broadway]

Afternoon Grapes,

I hope you are enjoying the weather.

Right back to business, I’m making a herb bed which will include Mint, Rosemary, Sage, Horse Radish, and a couple of others. I was gonna plant the mint in a pot then bury in the bed and rest straight in the ground but do I need to worry about any of the others taking over?

[bluemoon]

Horse radish will take over the world and you'll NEVER get rid of it, the others should be Ok.

[broadway]

Cheers bluemoon

[TonyF]

I've got a three year old sage plant that is about 2 metres round - it must love the conditions as do the tricolours and pineapple types with it. They can grow huge, great ground cover, if you let them.

[leoblackcat]

the thing i worry about with mint is, do the roots still come out of the holes in the bottom of the pot? Do you still end up with a much larger mint bush than antipicated even if it is in a pot? Or should you plant it in a pot without holes?

[Sweepster]

the thing i worry about with mint is, do the roots still come out of the holes in the bottom of the pot? Do you still end up with a much larger mint bush than antipicated even if it is in a pot? Or should you plant it in a pot without holes?

In my book it says to remove the bottom of the pot entirely! In a pot without holes it would surely get waterlogged and die? I guess it just reduces its ability to spread. Remember to keep the top of the pot at least a couple of inches above soil level, because the mint tries to spread over the sides and will root where it reaches the soil.

[rana]

Mint rootts CAN spread through the bottom of pots to the other parts of the bed. It has happened to me even through deep sticky clay.

[poly]

I agree with Rana, mint will spread from holes in pots if buried. It will also spread if the pot is stood on the earth or other suitable surface it can get its roots into!

[Two_Sheds]

Rosemary gets really big - Mum's is 4 foot high and 3 foot wide.

If you want to keep it small, keep it in a pot (sunk in the ground)

[Two_Sheds]

Lemon balm (Melissa) is a lovely plant (makes nice herbal tea), but it self-seeds everywhere. Ditto bronze fennel and borage.

Chives are fab, I wouldn't be without them, scissored over a salad.
Coriander too.

[Snadger]

Lemon balm (Melissa) is a lovely plant (makes nice herbal tea), but it self-seeds everywhere. .................

.

Must be how mines appeared as I don't recall planting it!

PS Know what you mean about the bronze fennel as well!

[Two_Sheds]

... and feverfew. It comes up every year, but I don't recall ever sowing any

[blackkitty]

I planted out mint yesterday into a big pot , with a hole in it and put it on top of a big very tenacious dandelion, should be interesting to see who wins....

[Rocketron]

I've got self-seeded Oregano and Golden Marjoram all over my(and neighbour's) front lawn.
Smells lovely when mowing.