Every cook needs a herb garden, so it’s time to get your hands dirty and give yours a spring makeover. The plot will look untidy with last year’s dead or straggly stems left to act like protective winter overcoats; they should now be removed or pruned to leave room for fresh growth.
Tidying up is a satisfying job, with lots of spin-offs. On a sunny day, fresh oregano or mint leaves release an intoxicating fragrance. And weeding has its interests – turn those such as forget-me-not or feverfew into plants in the right place by moving them somewhere else. And chives seed generously around, so transplant or pot up some of these youngsters.
Herbs need different treatments, depending on whether they’re sub-shrubs, herbaceous perennials or annuals.
Like their larger cousins, sub-shrubs such as winter savory or sage sprout fresh growth from woody stems. The former, Satureja montana, adds a fragrant touch to a bean dish, as well as reputedly dispelling unwelcome flatulence! Cut the old growth back to 10-15cm, leaving light and space for the newly forming leaves.
Other montana savories, such as lemon or purple savory, are also perfectly hardy and should be pruned like this, but summer savoury is tender and an annual, so must be sown each year.
Sage, another sub-shrub, needs a little cutting back. With this useful evergreen, remove all the dead leaves and wizened side-shoots to encourage growth. Otherwise, as with many herbs, prune to use in the kitchen. When snipping off leaves, cut just above a newly emerging shoot.
I have an elderly sage, competing bravely for water and nutrients with some cordon apples. Unfortunately I have to tolerate some unsightly bare stems because it grows sideways towards the light. Younger plants have an upright habit and, they too, have gappy stems. But the gaps between leaf nodes are much shorter.
New shoots emerge along the woody stems, usually along the previous year’s growth. Some new growth can also start close to the base of stems.
Thyme grows a bit more neatly and, like sage, I prefer to prune while it’s growing, helping to keep the plant compact while providing a tasty harvest.
Despite appearances, oregano is also a sub-shrub, sprouting from a woody stem. But this time, the stems lie on or virtually beneath the surface. When cleaning up oregano, you’ll see a low green mound of fresh leaves emerging from these woody stems. Snip any dead stalks to just above the mound.
Several favourite herbs are herbaceous perennials, not woody sub-shrubs. Unlike oregano, they die back completely before winter. This group includes mint, sweet cicely, French tarragon and fennel.
While most of the foliage is tidied up in the autumn, almost inevitably, some still green stems may have been spared last autumn and need to be removed now to prevent any rot damaging this year’s vegetation.
And, although chives were cut back in the autumn, the bases of the flower stems may have clung on as it’s hard to completely remove them without damaging the plant, but it’s easy now to pick out the dried remains.
The herbaceous perennial sorrel has kept going right through this mild winter, providing a leaf for a sandwich when there’s little else. Encourage healthy new leaves by cutting back any dead leaves or rotting stems.
Many biennial herbs, such as parsley, parcel and leaf celery, have survived the fairly mild winter, so are ripe for a clean up. Remove any damaged leaves to stop them rotting over new growth.
If one of these plants looks as if it hasn’t survived, give it a gentle tug. If it comes away in your hand, it’s begging for the compost heap. And be ready to do this with perennial rocket, Diplotaxis tenuifolia, if you think it’s succumbed to the ravages of winter.
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