Your Herb Garden. Barbara Segall

of course, the cheapest and last a long time. Once they are planted up with attractive herbs, they can look just as elegant and showy as more expensive containers.

       SOIL

      For herbs in containers you must use the best potting medium possible. Garden soil is not suitable in such a confined space as it may well be lacking in sufficient nutrients, and at the same time could be harbouring a concentrated number of soil pests. Instead use bagged, and therefore clean or sterilised, potting compost. If the container is large and permanently sited, this should be soil based; it will be heavy once watered, so make sure you position the tub before you fill it with compost and plants.

      To provide the free-draining medium that most herbs prefer, add several handfuls of grit to the compost and line the base of the container with pieces of broken terracotta, stones or a layer of gravel before filling with compost.

       HERBS TO CHOOSE

      Decide on a colour, fragrant or culinary theme for your container herb garden, but combine plants that have similar growth habits and enjoy similar conditions. Avoid growing thuggish plants like mint with delicate, slower-growing herbs such as prostrate rosemary. Grow shade- and moisture-loving herbs such as mints and sweet cicely together, and combine sun-lovers like lavender and thyme in a warm position.

       Pots of herbs used as eye-catching features

       Pot of silver

       A POT OF SILVER HERBS

      Site this cool-looking pot of silver foliage herbs on a sun-drenched patio. The leaves of purple sage add a touch of drama and accentuate the silver leaves of the other plants. Cheddar pink and lavender combine the silver theme with a long flowering season for the container.

       MATERIALS

       PLANTING UP THE POT

       Begin by putting the broken pottery or gravel at the base of the pot to make a drainage layer.

       Fill the container two-thirds full with the compost.

       Pot of gold

       Remove the plants from their individual containers. Uncurl any pot-bound roots by teasing them out gently.

       Arrange the plants in the terracotta pot. Place the lavender and sage towards the back of the pot, with the furry-leaved lamb’s ears in the centre. Position the pink and thyme at the edges of the pot, to the right and left of the centre.

       Fill the gaps between the plants with the remaining compost and water in thoroughly. Mulch the visible soil surface with grit to prevent rain splashes muddying the foliage.

       POTS WITH POUCHES

      Terracotta ‘parsley’ pots and plastic columns with planting pouches are space-saving homes for your herb collection.

      For both types of container, make sure there is a good drainage layer. To make watering easier, insert a piece of perforated tube drainpipe, or hosepipe into the centre of the pot. Fill the bottom few centimetres (inches) of the pipe with small stones to weight it down and aid waterflow to the roots. Then fill the container with compost to the level of the first pouch or planting window. Set the plant in place and continue filling with compost and planting in the same way until each pocket is planted up and the container filled with compost. Water with a long-spouted watering can. Insert the spout into the top of the perforated tubing and allow the water to trickle into the soil.

       PLANTS TO USE FOR A POT OF GOLD

       Golden-leaved sage (Salvia officinalis ‘Icterina’)

       Golden bay (Laurus nobilis ‘Aurea’)

       Golden marjoram (Oreganum vulgare ‘Aurea’)

       Golden thyme (Thymus vulgaris aureus)

      Golden lamb’s ears (Stachys byzantina ‘Primrose Heron’). This form of lamb’s ears is more prostrate than the silver one, so place it at the front of the pot.

       Terracotta containers are available in many shapes and sizes

       plants OF THE month

       Borage

      ANISE HYSSOP

      (Agastache foeniculum – Labiatae)

      Anise hyssop leaves make an excellent herb tea, while the aniseed-flavoured foliage provides an interesting addition to a salad. The plant is attractive to bees.

type	Hardy herbaceous perennial
flowers	From midsummer to early autumn with spikes of mauve-purple flowers
leaves	Short-stalked, oval to triangular in shape, light green and anise-scented
height	Branched stems grow up to 60–120cm (24–48in)
spread	60cm (24in)
planting	Plant out in spring