If you’re anything like the average herb gardener, it can be mind-boggling looking through seed catalogues and trying to choose just a few varieties to plant. There are so many types of herbs to plant – you’re probably tempted to plant almost all of them! Mostly, people won’t have the energy to tend to a garden that large, or even have a space that big.
The three main types or herbs are herbaceous, evergreen, and annual. Herbs are classified according to how they grow, what type of plant forms they are, and their habits. The herbaceous herbs grow constantly. They die back during the winter, but some back again in the spring.
Some common herbs of this type include oregano, tarragon, bee balm, mint, chives, sweet fennel, and winter savoury. These herbs don’t need pruning.
They can even be mowed down with a mower. Always be careful with mint. It spreads quickly, and can take over an entire garden if you let it. Evergreen herbs are perennial herbs that require pruning if you don’t harvest them regularly.
Pruning should be done every fall or early spring. Sage, rosemary, and thyme are examples of evergreen herbs. When you prune, you should only clip those branches that are old and don’t show any signs of new growth. You should also prune those branches that are broken and those that overlap other branches.
When you harvest evergreen herbs, you should be careful to cut only one section of leaves at a time, and only cut it back to where new growth is still showing. Cutting too much can discourage new growth.
Annual herbs include basil, cilantro, parsley, dill, and chervil. They must be planted again every year, because they won’t come back after they die. If you wish for continuous harvest of annual herbs, you have to plant them every about five weeks during a season.
Your annual herb will stop producing leaves after it flowers, so you should trim off any flower buds that develop. Once a plant flowers, they will then produce seeds, and will not produce any leaves that you can use.
You should plant only those herbs that you can use in your kitchen. As appealing as it may be to have every kind of herb in your garden, it’s actually very impractical.
Plant those herbs which you know you’ll really use. And keep in mind that some herbs are considered better when dried. For example, most people prefer dried sage than fresh sage.
It’s probably better to just purchase those herbs which you already know you like to use fresh, as well as perhaps one or two you’ve never tried before just to test out. Don’t plant more herbs than you can handle.
Although herbs don’t generally require a lot of care and maintenance, they will need a bit of work. You should only plant enough for you!
You should also determine your herbs’ hardiness zones. If your favourite herb doesn’t do well in your zone, you should probably skip it, or at least grow it indoors in a container. Planting herbs that will die before it is harvested is quite useless.
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