Have questions about growing your own amazing herb garden? Experts Rose Loveall of Vacaville’s Morningsun Herb Farm and Florence Nishida of LA Green Grounds, have the answers.
These are some of the questions asked during a recent webinar on herb gardening.
Q. Should we plant our herb garden with seeds or seedlings?
A. Seedlings give you a head start on growing, but either is fine. While seeds are readily available for the more common and popular herbs, you might not be able to find seed for the more unusual or exotic.
Be sure to read the instructions on seed packets. They’ll tell you how to plant or sow, how deep to seed, and if anything special needs to be done to the seed — like soaking it — to increase the chances of germination.
Q. Why does my basil keep dying?
A. Basil needs at least 6 hours of sun a day, and while it likes water, it doesn’t want to be in soil that’s too wet. So water deeply — let the water go for longer periods of time so it soaks deep into the soil — but infrequently. Also, basil is an annual and lives for just one year.
Q. I plant cilantro every year but it quickly bolts. What am I doing wrong?
A. Cilantro is used in spicy dishes, but it doesn’t like the heat. It’s considered a cool season herb and when the temperature is high, like it is in July and August, cilantro gives up and goes to seed, or bolts. Try planting it now.
Q. When is the best time to harvest herbs — before or after flowering?
A. You should be harvesting herbs on a regular basis, whether you plan to use them right away or not. This mini pruning of the plants will encourage more growth, and any unused herbs can be dried and used later when the plant is no longer producing.
Most herbs taste better before they start to flower. Plants are hardwired to flower, produce seeds and reproduce themselves, so with annuals — plants that grow for just one season — producing flowers is an indication that they are coming to the end of their lives.
To extend the growth and production, pinch the flowers off. The plant eventually will produce so many flowers, you can’t keep up. That’s when you should stop, harvest what you have and, if you’re so inclined, save the seeds to plant next spring.
Q. What pests should I look out for and what should I do?
A. Herbs are naturally pest resistant, but they can become infested with aphids, spider mites, thrips, wooly aphids and white fly. Start with the least toxic method first. You don’t want to use pesticides and insecticides on things you’re going to be eating and cooking with. Insecticidal soap, which washes off the insects, or Neam oil, which can smother the insects, are the best choices. You’ll probably need to repeat the treatment every five days for a total of three treatments.
Be vigilant. Check your plants often for signs of insect damage and infestation. Dealing with it early is much easier and more successful than trying to battle insects that have become established in the garden.
Q. Is it a good idea to grow all your herbs in one big pot, like half a wine barrel?
A. It depends. You can plant herbs in one container, if those herbs all have the same water and sun needs. You don’t want to mix herbs that like shade with those that like full sun, or herbs that need a bit more water with those that hardly like any. It’s the same if you’re growing them in the ground. Give those plants their own zones with separate irrigation.
Q. We planted a half wine barrel this spring with parsley, basil, dill, oregano, thyme and scallions. We did not let them flower. Also, we have rosemary in a separate pot. How much do we cut them back? What are we going to lose over winter on our patio?
A. With the exception of the basil and parsley, all your plants are perennial, meaning they’ll come back in the spring without being replanted. Basil is an annual, which lives just one season, and parsley is biennial, meaning it grows for two seasons.
Parsley should be regularly and frequently trimmed to keep it from taking over the pot and to encourage new growth. Dill should be cut to just a few inches above the soil, and it will grow back in the spring. Likewise, cut the oregano nearly to the ground after the first frost.
Stop harvesting your thyme about three weeks before the first expected frost, cutting it back by about a third, and let it rest for the winter. In the spring you can cut back another third to remove old growth and encourage new. You should be able to continue harvesting your scallions through the winter.
If you want to reduce the size of your rosemary and prevent it from getting leggy, cut it back by a third. In a few months, you can prune it by that much again, if you need to. If you’re trying to make the plant more bushy, just trim one or two inches off the branches.
Q. What would be a good way to dry herbs if you don’t have a food dryer?
A. Humans have been growing, harvesting and drying herbs for centuries, long before any fancy gadgets were invented. To dry herbs, you just need an out-of-the way spot that has good airflow.
Spreading herbs on a screen — a window screen that’s not in use — works great. Place the screen, propped up off the ground so air can circulate, in a shady spot and turn the herbs every few days to ensure thorough drying.
You also can bundle herbs together, tie the stems and hang them in an airy location. Once dried, store in glass jars with a tight seal and be sure to label them so you know what you’ve got.
Q. Can you freeze herbs to use later?
A. Herbs are much better suited to being dried and stored. Freezing fresh herbs may cause the moisture in the plant to crystalize and damage the leaves, as well as affect the flavor. But feel free to experiment.
Q. Is it important to cut the heads before they bloom, i.e., basil?
A. You’ll extend the production of most of your herbs by pinching them back when blooms start to form. But if the herb is edible, so is the flower, so if your plant is almost done for the season, let it bloom and harvest the flowers.
Q. How does one harvest nettles?
A. Very carefully! Nettles (Urtica dioica), also known as stinging nettles, are highly nutritious, full of anti-oxidents and a favorite of Loveall. The stinging portion of the nettle comes from thin, hollow hairs, called trichomes, on the stem and the underside of the leaves.
Wear thick gloves, long sleeves and long pants. You’ll also need some garden snips and a bag or bucket. Cut the nettles at one of their nodes, and let them drop into your bag or bucket. Let the nettles wilt, which they do rather quickly, before handling them. The wilt causes the trichomes to deflate and removes the stinging ability.
Spring and summer harvests capture the best tasting nettles, which can be used in soups and teas, steamed and eaten like spinach, or dried and ground for future use.
Q. Is there a way to keep cilantro from going to flower?
A. No. You actually want it to flower for two reasons. One, the seeds will self-sow, giving you a new crop of cilantro the next season. And you also can collect the seeds — coriander — for cooking or replanting.
Q. What’s the best way to keep lavender flowering and avoid it getting woody?
A. Most people give up on their lavender after three years and just plant new ones, but lavender can live 10 to 15 years. Pruning, however, is the key. After the plant has bloomed — some plants have two blooms a year — harvest the blooms and stems, then use garden shears to cut the plant back about 50 percent. It’s terrifying to consider, but it’s what the plant needs to stay healthy and compact.
When you’ve finished pruning, use garden clippers to shape it into a tidy dome, then fertilize it.
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