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| I grew various herbs this year to use as edging in my garden. They seem to be working out fine.
Hyssop and Rosemary. I planted red beets in front of the rosemary. I'll pinch the Hyssop back after it flowers to encourage bushiness. This is the first year I ever tried seed tapes to plant the red beets. I think they're great, unfortunately they don't come in enough varieties. I understand that you can make your own seed tapes. I might give it a try. Every seed germinated. There were no blank spots.
Basil "Pistou" and Feverfew "White Stars". Both are dwarf. Sow Basil 7 seeds per plug and thin to 5. This will give you a nice little globe. Sow Feverfew 5 to 6 seeds per plug. The Feverfew will be loaded with tiny white flowers. Both will stay small and compact without pinching. |
Follow-Up Postings:
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| Fantastic. What a great idea to use all those different herbs as edgings. This is going on my "must-do" list for next year. Did you start everything from seed? May I ask where you found the dwarf plant varieties? Do you plant the rosemary every year? I'm in the same zone as you are and would love to have borders like that! Great work. |
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- Posted by herblady49 Z6 PA (My Page) on Fri, Jul 9, 10 at 14:37
| The Basil, Savory and Feverfew are the only plants I grew from seed. I grew all the others from cuttings. I have a greenhouse. The Dwarf Garden Sage can be purchased locally from Russell Gardens in Churchville PA., but I'm sure that it can be mail ordered from Well Sweep Herb Farm. The variety of rosemary is "Tuscan Blue." Rosemary, Hyssop and Horehound can be grown from seed, but it's a slow process. The Basil and Savory seed were purchased from Johnny Seeds (www.johnnyseeds.com,) and The Feverfew was purchased from Richters (www.Richters.com). All the plants that you see were grown this year. The cuttings were taken last summer and were very small when planted. They can fill out fast. |
Here is a link that might be useful: Well Sweep Herb Farm
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| herblady-Thanks so much for taking the time to let me know what your sources were. I'll be checking them out! |
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| What great borders. Your garden looks beautiful. |
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| Oh my goodness---fantastic! I absolutely love it. I've been using some lemon thyme on a limited basis as an edging plant in my front garden. I definitely want to use it more. Your beds are stunning. Thanks for providing all of the specifics. Did you start the germander from seed? I've been considering using it ever since I saw a lovely herb and vegetable parterre with germander as the hedge on a local garden tour. Where in Bucks County are you? I saw that we are in the same county in the deer/fence thread. I'm in Doylestown Borough. The garden tour where I saw the herbal parterre was this year's New Hope Historical Society garden tour. Great inspiration on that tour. Thanks for sharing! Lisa |
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- Posted by lavender_lass WA zone 4 (My Page) on Sat, Jul 10, 10 at 21:07
| So many wonderful ideas! I've been thinking about adding a lot of herbs to my kitchen garden, especially perennials. Thank you for the beautiful pictures :) |
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- Posted by herblady49 Z6 PA (My Page) on Sun, Jul 11, 10 at 9:33
| Hi Lisa, Thanks for the complements. I live on 413 in Buckingham, in a little yellow house with a green metal roof, next door to Feeney's Wholesale. I wasn't able to attend the garden tour this year. I was one of the featured gardens last year. I used to own a small nursery specializing in herbs and old garden roses. I retired in 2006, and I now have the time to enjoy my own gardens. If you ever drive down 413, please stop in. You can grow Germander from seed (Richters herbs sells seeds,) but it's a slow process and I think it's better to purchase plants. Russell Gardens in Churchville sells the plants. I checked out some pics of your garden, and it's absolubly adorable. Doylestown has got to be one of the best places to live. At least one morning a week I stop by the Bagel Barrel for a bagel and coffee. |
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| Lisa and Herblady, Have you ever attended the open days at Burpee's Fordhook Farm in Doylestown? I went last year. I dragged all the menfolk but they wound up getting some great ideas from the woodland garden. I haven't seen any open days listed for this year though. In my garden, I have one or two of each of the different herbs (except no dwarf varieties) that you used in your borders. They look so much better and give a neater appearance as an edging. |
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- Posted by chickadeemelrose 5 (My Page) on Mon, Jul 12, 10 at 7:57
| Lovely plantings; I have all my herbs stuffed into a large planter. Your way is much more beautiful and no doubt better for the plants. Thank you for posting such wonderful ideas! |
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| Wow, how pretty. Everything looks so lush and healthy! What is the plant that is sort of a rounded shape. Looks like boxwood. More pics of your garden, please! |
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- Posted by hosenemesis SoCal Sunset 19 USDA (My Page) on Sat, Jul 17, 10 at 0:02
| What a wonderful garden. Can we see more please? Are those cobblestones lining your beds? Sigh. So lovely. I am also impressed with the way your wood beds have aged. You have created a really beautiful thing there in that garden. I'm clipping this post! |
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| most beautiful - thanks so much for sharing mr toad |
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- Posted by herblady49 Z6 PA (My Page) on Sun, Jul 25, 10 at 18:22
| I was on vacation last week and I though I’d add some more herb borders to this post. Two are from public gardens, and the other two are from my garden. Santolina incana ‘Nana" This grey Santolina border was at Boldt Castle in the 1000 Islands Region of the St. Lawrence River. The Santolina is perennial and was planted about 4 inches apart. If left unpruned it will grow about 8 inches tall. It can only be propagated from cuttings. http://www.boldtcastle.com/visitorinfo/
Marigold Border The Kings Garden at Fort Ticonderoga has incredible kitchen gardens. Once I get all my pics together I’ll share the gardens. This wonderful fence edger was made using bamboo stakes and just nailed together. http://www.fort-ticonderoga.org/gardens-grounds/kings-garden/
The Purple Sage is in my garden. It cascades nicely down a wall, and can be used for edging. It can only be propagated from divisions or cuttings.
Dwarf Greek Oregano Origanum vulgare Compactum ‘Nanum’ I purchased three small plants last year, and grew them in a trough to see how they would winter over. They only grow about 4-5 inches tall, and would make a great herb border. They can’t be grown from seed, but you should get a few new plants from one division. Just as fragrant and culinary as the standard Greek Oregano. |
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| Thanks for the additional pics! I would have loved to see that kitchen garden. I like the dwarf oregano. I let my oregano just do whatever it wanted this year and it soared to 3 feet with lots of little white flowers and the bees loved it. The dwarf would be much better as an edging plant though. |
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| "I like the dwarf oregano. I let my oregano just do whatever it wanted this year and it soared to 3 feet with lots of little white flowers and the bees loved it. The dwarf would be much better as an edging plant though." ??? My greek oregano has purple flowers? It also grew up about 3 feet..... |
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| Must be the variety; I grew it from a Ferry-Morse seed pack. I also have some oregano in pots that have purple flowers. |
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- Posted by ghoghunter Zone6b SE PA (My Page) on Wed, Aug 4, 10 at 11:48
| Love love love your herb borders!!! I live in Bucks County also and would love to see your gardens. I love herbs too and mostly use them when I cook. I have mine in containers on my patio. Those dwarf varieties looks so pretty! I especially love the winter savory..it's one of my favorite herbs...rosemary is beautiful but I'm not too fond of the taste. Joann |
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