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Sue
Senior Member


4201 Posts
Posted -  31/03/2007  :  17:34

I have just spent the last 3 full days digging out a formal herb garden,  laid out in a French style symmetry.( hence the bad wrist). Now I need to plant things quickly before all those weeds come back

 I already have rosemary, thyme, chives, mint, lemon balm, marjoram, and lavender(multiple plants of each). Has any one any ideas about othe perenial herbs that can with stand  long periods with very little attention. The soil is well drained and very fertile. I have 8 symmetrical patches in all. Two are already filled. This year I am putting potatoes in another two of them , but I need some ideas for a long term permanent herb plot. I did think I would do one patch with annuals and biennials like parsley and basil.

Sue

 

 Sue




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Stanley
Local Historian & Old Fart


36804 Posts
Posted - 19/04/2008 : 07:50
Gripe in Warwickshire Belle.  Sue, try to find one of the two tined forks designed for digging in clay soil.  They should be more durable and make the job easier as well.


Stanley Challenger Graham




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belle
VIP Member


6502 Posts
Posted - 19/04/2008 : 09:45
Now sue that depends what you mean by pruning, i can "cut back" with the best of them, and I know how to cut above a bud to train a bush to go another way...but as to things like roses...it all seems a bit technical to me.


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Sue
Senior Member


4201 Posts
Posted - 19/04/2008 : 10:12
I have never heard of those forks Stanley. Now Belle you may fail the test here!! It was a good try though.

 Seriously though as you can see we have a lot to do. As we write i believe our neighbour is pruning the fruit trees in the paddock/orchard so that we will get a better crop next year. As for the rest of it, the local farmer cuts it once a year, usually spring, but this year we are going for Autumn so I can plant seeds for a spring show of wild flowers. Plus we intend to have a formal soft fruit garden and a veggie plot. All for next year I think

The formal garden in front of the house is fairly easy to maintain, just cut the grass around the trees. I have made a few flower patches and a rockery and am slowly filling them with perenials, we also have the herb patch and we want to build a patio in a more shaded part of the garden , the  front of the house faces due south and gets VERY hot even on a cool day . Hopefully in about 2 years the house and the garden will be to our liking and we can enjoy it more


 Sue


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belle
VIP Member


6502 Posts
Posted - 19/04/2008 : 10:25
Is that it? I get a bit slap dash with the old pruning and you fire me..you'r worse than Sir Alan!


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Sue
Senior Member


4201 Posts
Posted - 19/04/2008 : 15:55
YUP!!!!


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Stanley
Local Historian & Old Fart


36804 Posts
Posted - 19/04/2008 : 16:53
Sue, imagine a spade with the middle cut out.  They make clay digging a lot easier and would probably stand up to the rocks better.


Stanley Challenger Graham




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Sue
Senior Member


4201 Posts
Posted - 19/04/2008 : 18:32
Where can you get them
 Sue


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Stanley
Local Historian & Old Fart


36804 Posts
Posted - 20/04/2008 : 06:57
Sue, I went diggiong on the tinternetwebthingy and couldn't easily find one.  If you did find one it would be a specialised tool and they would charge an arm and a leg.  If I were you, I'd take an old spade (or buy a new heavy one) and find a nice man to cut the middle out of it leaving enough meat at the top of the cut-out to retain strength.  Grind the cut reasonably smooth afterwards with an angle grinder.  The tines on the traditional clay fork were about two inches wide.  That'll be the cheapest and most effective way.  You'll find that apart from clay soil digging they are very useful for things like lifting big root balls with the minimum of damage.  Classic use was autumn digging to leave the clay in big lumps for the frost to get into.  If you make a fine tilth in autumn the clods go down like an onion bed.  The old farmers in Warwickshire reckoned that after winter ploughing there ought to be clods stuck up big enough for a hare to hide behind.


Stanley Challenger Graham




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Sue
Senior Member


4201 Posts
Posted - 20/04/2008 : 10:47
I told Bob about ypour idea,ahh . And that is all I got out of him. Mind you we have created two two tined forks already by breaking 2 off!!!!. The biggest problem is the stones in the soil.
 Sue


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Stanley
Local Historian & Old Fart


36804 Posts
Posted - 20/04/2008 : 17:01
Nag him.........


Stanley Challenger Graham




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Sue
Senior Member


4201 Posts
Posted - 20/04/2008 : 17:05
Nothing new there Stanley !!!!!!!

Sue


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Stanley
Local Historian & Old Fart


36804 Posts
Posted - 07/06/2008 : 11:13
Now the growth season is well under way here in Barlick I have done an audit of the plants that were put in last year.  Chives, Tarragon and Spearmint have grabbed hold and are vigorous.  Ladslove (Southernwood) looked dodgy but is going on well now.  Jack keeps peeing on the Lavender near the gate and is burning one side of it.  The comfrey and pineapple mint have survived but look poor.  The Lemon Balm is definitely struggling.  Funnily enough, the real casualties have been the ordinary mint, the one I like best!  So I decided to do something about it.

Chaudry's on the Square sell fresh mint so I got a bunch this morning and took a lot of leaves off for the hot pot that's on the go (I chucked a root of Fennel in as well....)  The rest of the mint wasn't worth keeping so I divided it in two.  I sripped the lower leaves off half of it and have put it in water on the window cill to root.  I dug a shallow trench in a bare part of the garden, filled it with a good potting compost and heeled the rest of the stalks in.  Knowing how tough mint is I expect it to get cracking.  I suspect that the root cause (!) of the problem is that the soil in the front garden is very poor.  I'm not into digging with my back so I think an SOS to Doc is indicated for a couple of bags of well rotted pig manure.  With luck there should be some worms in it and I want them to do the hard work for me! 


Stanley Challenger Graham




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skooch
Regular Member


102 Posts
Posted - 09/06/2008 : 15:23
Sue -

I have just come inside from sorting out my herb garden (seem to be a bit late doing everything this year). 

I plant potatoes every year, just first earlies, and lots of salad stuff, cut and come again things, spring onions (which I pull out before they're fully grown and chuck them in salad - so I plant tons), chard, spinach.  All really easy.  We spend the whole of July and August eating new pots and salad. It's fab.  I have grown other stuff with mixed success, but these things just seem to take off and you have bowls full.  Oh, and broad beans.

Herb wise, my favourite annuals are coriander and chervil - seeds readily available.  I grow them in two open, shallowish terracotta pots, prob about 24 ins in diameter.  Throw the seeds in, cover with a bit of compost and water.  The coriander likes to be up against a wall, and the chervil can do with a bit of shade, whatever.  I have found they like the pots better than the open ground.  A whole packet in each pot. Great in with salad.

Parsley likewise, I grow half flat leaved and half a pot curly.

Perennials: I have marjoram, which has grown well for many years in the ground, without going woody and oregano ( in a pot).  Both thyme and sage do very well but  go woody after a few years, although I don't think I've ever pruned them, similarly rosemary.  So this year I've replanted new. Sorrel goes bananas, self seeding everywhere, so you have to use and trim back before it sets, but is lovely.  Mint has its own rectangle in the flagstones, as its very invasive and damned difficult to get rid of if it takes over.  Very tough stuff, it's lifting the flags! I have French tarragon, which I expected to last only a year, as its slightly tender, but has much better flavour than Russian, but its still with me - in a pot - it dislikes water, only water infrequently.

I live in N Yorks so weather not terribly warm.  Warm today, though!

skooch.





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Stanley
Local Historian & Old Fart


36804 Posts
Posted - 09/06/2008 : 17:47
You're like us, second week in June for putting bedding plants out......


Stanley Challenger Graham




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skooch
Regular Member


102 Posts
Posted - 10/06/2008 : 09:54
Bedding plants?! 

The credit crunch is forcing me to rethink - I can neither afford the bedding plants, nor the petrol to put in the car to go get them!  So this year I've put clumps of Johnson's Blue and mollis in pots together - and they are looking great, they really set each other off.  Also, a lacy hydrangea, in a big pot - which is doing well so far, but I don't know how it will fair in the long run. I'm just experimenting with perennials.  Lavender is another one I've had success with.  The good thing is, that since most of these things are quite tough, if they don't like it I can pull them out and put them back in the borders.

Does anyone know what you can do with Good King Henry?  Have had some for a few years now and it's looking very healthy, certainly looking good enough to eat, but can't remember whether it's culinary or medicinal, or what.  Don't want to poison us all!

Skooch


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