Herbs, LOTS of Herbs

[WiZeR]

Hi guys.

I have designated a bed to herbs and am thinking about what I want in it. I believe there is no need to rotate a herb bed? All the usual suspect will be in there. But what I want to concentrate on the most is Sage and Rosemary. I use a great deal of both herbs and want a supply that won't run out. At the moment I have a pot of rosemary and sage on the back step but I always use it up too quickly. The sage was bought last year and I'm suprised that it's started to come back really well.

My question is, how can I get a lot of these plants quickly and cheaply? I have heard you can take cuttings from a rosemary plant, could I use my current plant as a 'donor' and strip it down completely for cuttings? I have sown some seeds but i'm impatient!

[cotton54321]

shame you don't live closer - our rosemary is a giant and I'm about to halve it!
Mel

[WiZeR]

[pigletwillie]

They root really easily, take the tips of the branches, about 3" is long enough. Strip off the leaves from the bottom half and pot a load in a 3 or 4" pot. You can use hormone rooting powder if you wish but I dont bother. Water well and then put a clear bag over the top until they start to root which can be as quickly as a week or two and put in a warm, light place.

They will make sizeable plants in the first year and will just need their growing tips pinching out to encourage it to bush out.

[andrewo]

Wizer, you can take cuttings, further information here:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/gardening/basic...cuttings.shtml
and what to do in April in the Herb Garden:
http://www.gardenorganic.org.uk/todo...b_gard_now.php

[Shortie]

Cheers PW... that's handy to know as I want to increase my stock of Rosemary too (lovely with Butternut!)

My sage didn't do too weel over winter and although is growing back, I too would love to know how to take cuttings. Are they the same as Rosemary?

[bramble]

Why not grow a rosemary hedge around your herb bed. That would keep you in a plentiful supply and would also look very attractive.

[Shortie]

Not sure if that was directed at me Bramble, but good idea and I actually bought some more Rosemary plants the w/e gone to plant a border along one of my walls, to interplant with lavendar bushes..

Have no idea if the local wildlife will be interested in it for a home, but it not at least it will smell lovely for me and provide a plantiful amount of romesamy for my chicken, lamb, butternut squash...... the list goes on!

[SueA]

WiZeR, you could try buying pots of herbs from a supermarket, dividing them up & repotting & growing them on. I've done it with basil, chives & parsley from Tesco & the plants have all grown.They pack the seeds very tightly into the pot & they are shallow rooted which is why they generally die after a few weeks if you leave them in the pot you buy them in, but if you split each into about 4 or 6 sections & pot separately in multipurpose compost they are happier.

[andrewo]

Why not grow a rosemary hedge around your herb bed. That would keep you in a plentiful supply and would also look very attractive.

Wizer, you would certainly get away with this on your soil, unless clay and then you need to put in plenty of muck and humus. I suggest if you go down this path you feed them each year with mushroom compost or leaf mould. Harvest regularly or they will get woody. Same with sage too. I also suggest a bay, you can but them small and then shape, mine has took 5 years but is now forming a ball and cost under two pound.

[Elaine]

WiZer

I have always just cut off pieces of Rosemary and Sage in about August and just pushed them into the soil, by the following spring I have bushes all over the place ready to replant if necessary. I had clay soil but always chose the driest areas of the garden. Good Luck

[fruit&vegvirgin]

Sue - just read your comment about supermarket herbs. I did the very same thing the day before yesterday with a pot of basil. its now looking very shell-shocked - do I need to cut it back or something, or just wait for it to calm down?

[andrewo]

Just remember to keep harvesting your rosemary, like lavender, it needs to be cut back to rejuvenate and get a good root system running. Leave it and it will get woody. Also, if after winter, you find brown patches on your bush, cut them right back to uninfected growth or you will lose the entire bush.

[SueA]

Sue - just read your comment about supermarket herbs. I did the very same thing the day before yesterday with a pot of basil. its now looking very shell-shocked - do I need to cut it back or something, or just wait for it to calm down?

Hi, I didn't do anything with mine just watered them in & left them on the windowsill to settle. They did look a bit droopy at first but soon perked up.It wouldn't do any harm to cut them back a bit if they are very tall & floppy & you could try rooting the bits you trim off to get even more plants, just push them into some compost & put a plastic bag over for a few days.

[nick the grief]

Or stick them in a glass of water, it works for Mint !!!