Tried herbs for 1st time ever this year, but what to do over winter?

[Croila]

Hi there,

I wonder if I could please have some advice on my herbs? I've had a good poke around "The Herb Bed" but can't seem to find the answers I'm looking for. So if anyone would be kind enough, I'd so appreciate it1

Okay, I've never grown anything before this summer and am a total novice so please excuse if this all sounds silly.

I've got mint, rosemary, curly parsley, majoram and thyme growing out the back in pots. I bought them as wee plants from the garden centre and they've all thrived nicely. I've also got some oregano in the ground which I bought as a wee plant from the garden centre. And lastly, I grew basil over the summer on my kitchen windowsill. (Woo-hoo! I didn't kill any of this stuff!)

So, what I am wondering is, how can I keep any or all of these plants going over the winter? Should I bring them inside? I could keep them in an unheated conservatory, though there's probably not room in my kitchen for the whole collection. How will the oregano get on in the ground over winter, cause I read somewhere they're fairly hardy? But then again, temperatures get to about minus 5 at night here in winter, so I'm not sure if it could withstand that!

I just sowed some new sweet genovese basil in pots on the kitchen windowsill the other day but will they actually grow at this time of year?

Any advice would be so brilliant, thanking you in advance!

[rustylady]

Oregano and basil will not stand the winter outside. Rosemary is hardy, and mint is as tough as old boots. Parsley is fairly hardy too. What size pots are they in?

[Croila]

Thank you for your quick reply, it's really kind of you

Well, the parsley is in a hanging basket but I might just get rid of it as I don't even eat the stuff very often.

The pots are actually in a picture here:Garden-7988 | Flickr - Photo Sharing! They're not very big though.

I'm wondering if I should dig up the oregano and put it in a pot and bring it into the conservatory ..? Or maybe it's not worth the bother, just sow/plant more next year?

I hate being without basil though so I'm hoping I can keep some going all winter on the (south facing) windowsill!

[zazen999]

I've got Oregano that has been outside for 2 winters now....including several weeks under snow last year.

[Two_Sheds]

My oregano/marjoram stays outside all year: it's also seeded itself everywhere, so it's coming up in the path, all over the beds ....

[zazen999]

It's a good way to get herbs to the schools; pull it up at home and plant at school....

[Croila]

Ah, right ... I think I'll leave the oregano and see what happens. It's not a massive clump, only about ten inches across, so if it dies it dies. I hope our winter is better than last year's though, ugh, that was grim!

[SueA]

I'd take a few cuttings of your oregano & grow them in small pots indoors just to be on the safe side & maybe bring the smallest of your pots indoors as well, although some of the plants are hardy because they're in small pots they can freeze up completely or get waterlogged depending on the weather & could be killed, I lost some herbs this last winter, sages, oregano, rosemary etc. which were in pots, mind you it did go down to minus 15 here a couple of nights & we had about 2 weeks under about 2 ft of snow in the garden!

[northepaul]

I actually prefer the flavour of dried oregano....so I harvested quite a lot in the summer and dried it for the winter. I cut my oregano bush right back after it flowered and will see what happens.

[valmarg]

Croila, you say you have curly parsley. A method I use is to cut the parsley, wash and trim. Pick off the tops and wash, Spin in a salad spinner until quite dry. Chop in a food processor. Pack very loosely into tubs, so that when you want to use the herb you can scrape off the required amount with a fork.

Freeze the parsley stalks to add to stock, etc.

valmarg

[cupcake]

I find that oregano is a plant and stand well back plant! It's like forget-me-nots, buy one plant and you'll soon have a garden full. I lost 3 rosemary plants last year altho my soil is well drained so this year I intend to put it in the cold greenhouse with the tarragon.

[valmarg]

Fair enough, I assume that I'm on an 'ignore' button.

I've given, what I would consider helpful information, on two occasions, regarding the preservation of herbs.

Shan't bother again.

valmarg

[Croila]

Fair enough, I assume that I'm on an 'ignore' button.

I've given, what I would consider helpful information, on two occasions, regarding the preservation of herbs.

Shan't bother again.

valmarg

Valmarg ... I am SO sorry that I seem to have ignored you, that's awful and is totally not my intention! I think the problem is I've picked up some of these email alerts on my mobile, and when you click through to this site on that, all I see is a weird mobile version and somehow I've got confused. Please accept my apologies for not having thanked you before for the advice, because believe me, I really am grateful. All this stuff is very new to me, and I've been finding people on here amazingly helpful. The last thing I'd want is anyone to think I'm ignoring them when in fact I've just been technologically inept. Please do accept my sincere apologies.

[moola]

The advice I got from a prof herb grower last year (I did alot of work putting in some big new herb beds) was to avoid cutting back and herbs until very early Spring. They need their leaves to absorb excess water and to protect the 'core part' in the cold. Mind you, this was for bedded plants. I used to grow potted herbs prior to this and tended to group the pots together and just cover with fleece. I watered occasionally and things tended to be ok.

[Croila]

That sounds a pretty good idea actually, grouping pots together and covering with fleece, think I'll try that.

And the oregano in the ground, I'll not chop it back till spring, see what happens. Thank you for the suggestions!