Unlike basil (which is an annual), oregano is a perennial. It is not going to be humongous at the end of year one. Perennials are in it for the long-haul and are not trying to get big, have flowers, make seed, and die all in one growing season like basil. Your oregano will look so much different next year and you also have more than enough to start a HUGE patch of oregano, if that is your desire.

FataMorgana

Thank you for the information. I certainly didn't know that is how oregano worked.

That means that I cannot dig up or "claw" the area for tilling where the oregano is, correct?

That would probably nuke the oregano and then you would miss the beauty of perennials - they come back bigger and better each year and get to be their full size usually in their 3rd year.

From personal experience and listen well to this one since I learned it the HARD way, plant your perennials in one area and your annuals or biennials in another. That way if you wish to till the bed where annuals are planted, it is easy and you won't have transplanting work before tilling. I often don't listen to my own advice since I regularly use the annual vegetable beds to start perennial plants but then I got nobody to blame but myself. :)

Since your garden bed looks small, I would suggest a second no-till bed for the perennial herbs.

FataMorgana

The bed does look small, but it is a 8 x 4 bed on the driveway just outside our patio.

When it comes down to it, I don't really have to "till" anything because the soil is very loose since it is all compost anyways.

I went out to take a second look at the oregano this evening and did notice that there seems to be a new plant that has started. One of the stems from the main plant has embedded itself and started a second plant - just like runners on strawberries.

Was hoping to put lettuce in the bed next year along with the basil and oregano - but I may not have room for that afterall.

Most lettuce bolts and goes to seed before your basil plants would be ready to place in your beds. Lettuce likes cooler weather where basil likes it warm. If your lettuce is still doing well when it is warm enough to put basil in just pull up a plant or so to eat of the lettuce and plant your basil.

Oregano in my experience is a Mediterranean herb, and a bed of 100% pure compost may be too rich for it. Here in its home climate, oregano likes poorer, rockier soil and much less water than basil. But we are in completely different climates and the plants will behave very differently. Hope this helps!

I agree with batya about the rich soil. If you leave your oregano to flower and self seed you will probably find oregano coming up in the cracks in your driveway by next year.

It might do better by starting as a plant instead of seeds since it is a perennial. I started oregano in my greenhouse first, then planted in the spring.
You'll be amazed at how huge it can get its second year compared to the first.
Your raised bed is good for herbs..my daughter has her herbs on about 1/3 of the end of one and adds annual herbs here and there in that section.

i'm definitely a potage gardener. My oregano is in a patch between the bachelor buttons and the peonies.
This was it's second year here the first year I thought it was a goner so please don't worry.

Three years ago I bought 2 small pots of oregano and put them into a raised bed about 2 feet by 4 feet, figuring that I would ultimately plant other things around the edges of the bed. Nope. Not to be. The oregano completely filled the bed and is creeping out between the timbers trying to expand! It dies back here in the winter, so I cut back the dead stems. It comes back like gangbusters in the spring and summer. I think you'll be amazed by your oregano in the next year or two.

Try this trick with oregano - just keep trimming it back every so often. My oregano got long and leggy looking like yours - I figured that the plants were on their last legs. So I trimmed them back last spring, and this year, all of my plants (all in containers) grew like crazy. The interesting thing is that they stayed pretty low like ground cover, but they grew in very thick and flavorful. I kept taking trimmings to use for drying all year long, and the plants are still going strong.

Also, make sure you don't overwater them - I agree that your soil may be a little too rich for them; my oregano seems to be doing much better (even though they have been in the same pots for a couple of years), and I didn't really add anything to the soil in the pots this year except for an occasional watering with worm tea.