Picking Herbs

[Kernowbillie]

Hello all !!
I'm pretty new to gardening but have a passion for using fresh herbs in my cooking, so last year I planted a small herb garden(I've not been too ambitious ). I would like to know if there is a certain way you should pick the different herbs so as to keep them luxuriant and bushy? Some of my plants look a bit thin and skeletal.
Also, I would like to plant herbs in a strawberry planter but I know that some herbs need different environments to others.
Any advice will be very welcome(and much needed!!)

[madderbat]

Hi there Kernowbillie
Welcome to the vine. I'm guessing that you've got thyme, rosemary and other bushy type herbs in your new plot. These can have a tendency to become woody and 'leggy'. You will find another discussion here somewhere about thyme in particular - the lower-growing varieties tend to be a bit bushier (but much smaller to look at. (Still tasty in cooking though).
Rosemary, lavender and the 'bushy' types can be clipped on green growth, and will make cuttings from them, but beware breaking off woodier stems as they can die off.
Most herbs will grow happily together, but most like good drainage I think, especially the mediterranean types, like basil and tarragon. Chives are happy in pots, so are mints, but they die off in winter.
The other grapes will be along later and you will get more advice from them. Hope you enjoy it here. See you around.

[Alison]

Would agree wtih what MB says above. Grow most of my herbs in tubs, some singly and some in groups. No real problems expect that I always ruin the look of them by eating them all!

[rustylady]

The best way to prune herbs is to keep picking them for use in the kitchen - little and often. However when the weather warms up you can give your perennials (rosemary, lavender, sage, and thyme) a good haircut! Don't cut too far back into old wood though as they don't really like it. Having said that, I had a huge rosemary bush at my last house and I cut it back hard and it still re-sprouted.