Total Newbie SOS (long post - reposted from Herbs forum)

13 years ago

So, I'll start by saying that it is dangerous to tell a newly-enthused gardener that she can have whatever plants she can fit in her car for $25 (end of season sale). I brought home many things yesterday to add to my flower bed and also came across some herbs I'd like to try growing. Now that I'm doing some research, I am feeling slightly apprehensive, and would like some input. Please help!

Here's my setup:

My vegetables are growing in a container garden. I currently have several tomatoes- some companion planted with basil and marigold and some aren't, a bell pepper companion planted with strawberries (??), and onions. I will be planting some new tomato plants today that have been growing wild in my neighbor's garden. My containers are plastic bins 24"x36"x8" with many holes drilled through the bottom for drainage. My garden gets full sun.

So yesterday I bought one plant each of spearmint, lemon verbena, thyme, and oregano. I knew already that spearmint is a notorious invader, so I know it has to be given its own planter. But in doing my research today, I am getting this mental picture that what I've got might be too much for me?

Here are some specific questions, but I welcome any and all help you can give - I don't want to kill anything!

I read online that oregano companions well with beans. How big does oregano get? Would it be too big to try and plant with beans? I want to plant beans in August after I decide that my two ailing tomato plants are really and truly beyond saving.

Lemon verbena is a shrub, so I read. I also read that you can plant it in a 9-12" pot? Does this compute?

If my post is so long and full of questions that your initial response would be, "STOP NOW, YOU'LL KILL EVERYTHING YOU TOUCH!", don't worry - I already feel that way!

Comments (4)

marcy3459
13 years ago
First off, lemon verbena won't survive zone 6 winters, so planting it in a pot is a good idea in case you want to bring it inside to overwinter.

Thyme, as with sage, seems to survive anything and its growth habit depends on the type you bought. Do you have the cultivar name?

Oregano generally survives my zone 6 winters, but seems to decline with old age. Mine needs replacing every 3 years or so. Also, its growth habit depends on the cultivar, but I would say in general it isn't too invasive to grow with pole beans, but you might not want to plant it with bush beans for two reasons: it probably wouldn't get the sun it needs and it might make it difficult to harvest the bush beans and also might overcompete with the beans a bit.

I have grown herbs just about everywhere in my gardens but I seem to be happiest with them in 12 inch pots on my porches and deck. They are handier to harvest and you'll use them more and tend to take better care of them. That and bringing them in to overwinter, which can be done in an unheated garage for the most part.

Don't give your herbs too rich a soil, deprive them a little of water and attention and they will do fine.

There's some more people on this forum who'll be along in a little with more 'sage' advice for you, I'm sure.

Marcy
Okiedawn OK Zone 7
13 years ago
All I really have to add to what Marcy said is that while thyme grows anywhere for her, it doesn't grow well for me in enriched clay. I'm afraid even in a raised bed with organic matter added, thyme doesn't thrive in clay soil. It likes well-drained soil.

All my herbs are in the ground, mixed in with various flowers and veggies and they do just fine. I think herbs will tolerate being crowded into pots more than many veggies will, especially if you're constantly clipping the herbs in order to cook with them.

Plant them and enjoy them and don't worry too much about them being too crowded together with other plants in pots. Herbs are very resilient.

Dawn
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Ok, a few things. I've personally found oregano to be far more invasive and misbehaved than mint, and mint is pretty rambunctious. I'd put both in pots, on concrete (to keep the roots from escaping into the ground). And even then, it will probably spread via seeds. Mint and oregano are appx. 18-24" tall at maturity. Thyme is usually very well behaved in all its various forms. The creepers will creep somewhat, but not in a thuggish manner. Lemon Verbena is only reliably hardy to Zone 8. I had it in a very protected part of my Zone 7 garden in NM, and was always relieved and somewhat surprised each year it came back. It stayed quite small, even though it was planted in the ground (12-18") - in mild climates it is a true shrub. So, in your Zone 6, if you want to hold it over from year to year, you'll probably want to put that in a pot as well so you can bring it indoors for the winter. I'm not sure how it will react to being indoors, but it will almost surely die if left outdoors in Z6. I've seen reports of it coming back as far north as zone 5, but I can only guess those plants are in incredibly protected parts of the garden, or the gardener has taken extra precautions to help it through the winter. I have a large garden (over an acre), so I allow mint and oregano to go where they please - and the oregano patch is far, FAR more out of control than the mint. It's almost as big a thug as Shasta Daisy, LOL! At least the mint and the oregano smell good - Shastas stink!
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Macmex
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Kelley you made me smile. "I am getting this mental picture that what I've got might be too much for me?" In gardening, I believe when one gets this premonition, they're probably long over their heads already. But here, in this forum, no one will tell you to pull back ;)

Don't be afraid of that spearmint. Yes, it is invasive. But it is not hard to weed out. I have a couple of patches of it in my main vegetable garden and I hate to weed it out, simply because I love the stuff so much. We also have it growing wild on our creek. Been drinking LOTS of spearmint/lemon balm tea this summer. It's wonderful!

George
Tahlequah, OK
kelleyp125
Original Author
13 years ago
Thank you all for your responses!

The tag on my thyme plant says English Thyme (Thymus vulgaris). It's now planted with 2 tomato cuttings Jo gave me last night. Keep your fingers crossed that they will live!

I planted the spearmint, lemon verbena, and oregano all in their own pots.

I also spotted a daylily at Lowe's that accidentally ended up at my house. Whoops!

Everything I have is in containers for a couple of reasons: I'm currently living with my parents and don't know how long I'll be doing so, and would prefer some portability in my garden in case I move at some point. Also, we have clay here and when I decided to try gardening, I wanted to get the hang of keeping something alive that doesn't remind me if I forget to give it food (like my cats do) before I tried fixing my soil and stuff. So everything's in containers with some potting soil from bags.

Need more coffee....

Total Newbie SOS (long post - reposted from Herbs forum)

Comments (4)

marcy3459

Okiedawn OK Zone 7

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Total Newbie SOS (long post - reposted from Herbs forum)

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marcy3459

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kelleyp125Original Author

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