How to grow a herb garden in containers

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Beginner Intermediate Advanced

1 hr

7-step guide:

Start by choosing a suitable pot. Preferably a self-watering pot and have clever moisture reservoirs means the plants won’t dry out (even if you forget to water!).
Fill the pot with Yates Premium Potting Mix. It contains slow release fertiliser that will feed your plants for up to nine months. Added soil wetters in the mix improve water absorption – no more water runoff and wastage.
Sow Yates herb seeds into the potting mix. Make sure you read the instructions on the seed packet for sowing depth and spacing. Most herb varieties can be planted at this time of year. Chives, basil, coriander, mint and parsley are all popular varieties. A bay tree or some upright-growing rosemary will add structure to your herb pot.
Make sure you position the pot to suit the variety of herbs selected. Most herbs require sun.
Keep the potting mix moist while seeds are establishing.
Feed the young herbs with Yates Thrive Natural Fish & Seaweed+ Plant Food Concentrate regularly to make sure they grow extra strong and healthy.
Begin harvesting when the herbs have plenty of leaves.

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Most herbs need some sunshine each day and an ideal place is a window box as close to the kitchen as possible. Herbs also need fresh air to thrive – they do not grow well indoors for any length of time. Although they are not as fussy as some ornamental plants, herbs should be planted in a good potting mix to encourage lush, attractive growth.

The best herb plants to grow in pots are the low or dwarf varieties, like chives, parsley, thyme, tarragon, basil, geraniums, savory, mint, marjoram, oregano, thrift, pennyroyal, prostrate rosemary and dwarf lavender. Regular applications of soluble fertilisers like Yates Thrive Natural Fish & Seaweed+ Plant Food Concentrate will improve plant growth, particularly if you are picking the leaves for cooking or infusions. Apart from chives (which can be cut to the ground when ready for harvest), never remove more than one-fifth of the plant in one cut, and let the plant start growing again before harvesting any more leaves.

Herbs with strong roots like mint, tarragon and lemon balm should be contained in pots and not mixed in with other plants.

Dill, fennel, borage and sage are larger growing plants which tend to grow smaller when restricted in a pot. Don’t grow these in amongst the more prostrate herbs as they will soon overwhelm the smaller plants

Grow aromatic herbs where they can be touched, brushed against or walked on. The fragrance is always pleasing and often wards off insects. Scented-leaf geraniums are among the easiest to grow and come in a variety of perfumes, such as peppermint, nutmeg, rose, lemon and a number of other spicy flavours.