First go at herbs...

[Scottishnewbie]

I've decided to start a wee herb bed this year and so far I have:

thyme (2 different kinds)
parsley (2 different kinds)
borage (if that's the thing with the blue flowers that attracts the bees!)
lavendar

can i plant them all together?
do any of them need to stay in pots and come in during the winter?
do i need to cut any of them back?

thanks

(sure I'll have lots more questions as time goes by!)

andlastly, is there anything that i absolutely should have? (grew basil in the GH this year and also some mint in an old chimney pot to stop it taking over the world!)

[FionaH]

I would keep borage in a pot, if you must have it at all. It spreads like wildfire!

[Scottishnewbie]

thanks Fiona

[bazzaboy]

Regarding borage, SNB, I agree with Fiona: bees love it and the blue flowers traditionally look cute floating on Pimms... but once it really gets going (next year now) you're going to need to be drinking an awful lot of Pimms to keep the flowers in check, hic.... If you subsequently find it growing in quantity it makes a useful if smelly plant-feed 'tea' (like comfrey) – steep in water for a few weeks then feed to plants (whilst wearing a peg on the nose). With luck the plants will think you’re handing out Pimms and be suitably grateful…

As far as I'm aware most standard herbs are pretty compatible with one another - which is just as well as they generally share a liking for full sun... It's worth getting a book on herbs or doing some Internet searches on the topic as there's a vast range and this is a vast topic - but which ones you grow will probably best be decided by what you might use in the kitchen. Three that I find quite useful in addition to those you mention are rosemary, sage and bay (all susceptible to frost so protect through winter months or grow in pots and move to sheltered spot); similarly majoram/oregano which make quite attractive pot plants. Most thyme are pretty tough and will probably stagger through winter though some protection might be appreciated or they tend to get very woody. You can extend the life of your parsley by protecting it or even taking indoors (remembering supposedly unlucky to transplant parsley, eek!) but you'll probably need to re-sow in the Spring anyway (traditionally on Good Friday, lots of folk-lore surrounds parsley....). I succession sow it in pots but sometimes in sheltered spots it can be persuaded to self-seed.

Have fun developing your herb garden.... b.
b.

[Reb Williams]

Agree with the others' comments, above, but personally have never found a problem with either sage or thyme - they survive frosts and even snow. Your winters are probably a little colder than ours though - I'm in Oxford. I think our record was -11, and that was a good while ago.
My parsley dies off each winter pretty much, but I just reseed.
R
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