Merryn I do it all the time. I haven't found any herbs that dislike being mixed in with others. In fact companion planting can help Goodluck Judie

I have both. My back garden is south facing so have to plants away from the house anyway. The herb garden has veges and the herbs are also in among the flowers. It is planted under the rotary clothes hoist to save wasted space.

Hi everyone, Growing Sage has always been a problem for me. Is there a trick or special technique to it? I only seem to get about a 10% gemination rate with seeds too. TIA. teddy,J

I have both a herb garden and herbs in the flower garden, both work well for me.

Thanks for your imput, everyone. I feel more confident about spreading the herbs throughout the garden.
By the way teddyj, I can't grow sage either. I've tries seeds, seedlings and supposedly surefire Russian Sage from Diggers Club. The purple sage is supposed to really compliment pink roses-but I just end up with small green plants that don't flower. I'd value from hints from people who have success with sage.
Margaret

I've started growing herbs in pots and placing them by the front and back doors. It's a bit easier to access them. I hate it when I'm cooking and having to wander through the yard in the dark. I also have herbs like oregano, thyme and lavender growing further out in the yard, but the basil, parsely, coriander and chillies are all nearby in pots for easy access. If you let your one of your parsely plants go to seed, you'll get them popping up in different areas in the garden bed in the year ahead. My sister in law had really good luck with her sage plant. I think she bought it in a pot though. She had it in partial shade.

I had great success growing sage from seed, just made sure that I kept it moist, and kept a half softdrink bottle over them, until they came up. However, the plants only lasted for a couple of years - they all flowered, and then died back.....

Although I have never attempted growing sage from seed, I have personally found it relatively easy
to grow. I grow pinapple sage in pots on the verandah, this protects them from the frost, and the officinalis (common) throughout the garden usually amongst flowers and vegetables. I take cuttings in spring and find they strike well. They do flop if not getting enough water and dont like swimming in wet soil either. One thing I have found is they dont like being harvested when young, let the plant mature a bit first, even wait until after the first flowering, at which time they like to be cut back hard. Good luck, regards beckles

Go mad like me and have nothing else but herbs in your entire garden! That includes a few vegetables of course, which are also herbs. I think you would be wise to study up on companion planting, and then plan out your garden accordingly. I can help you out a bit with that if you let me know what other plants you have, and don't forget there is a companion planting forum, as well as many web sites on the subject. You have to consider many variables, such as the particular needs of each plant - sun, shade, water, fertiliser, soil type etc as well as what plants help each other or hinder each other, keep pests away etc. It's quite daunting at first, but soon it all falls into place. In short, I'm suggesting you mix and match and forget about the separate herb garden. As an example, if you grow roses, plant garlic chives nearby, perhaps as a border. They help each other by improving taste, smell and growth, and the garlic chives attract aphids away from your roses. The chives are as beautiful to look at as the roses, in their own way, and especially when in flower. So they are very good friends to each other indeed.

I grew sage from seed and found that patience was the key. Those little straggly pathetic looking things that sat there for over a month and a half looking close to death suddenly turned into these robust large leafed healthy plants that are still there now. So much sage I dont know what to do with it all!

Hello there everyone- I'm new to this forum, but am learning a lot already!

I'm going to agree with Purr on the sage problem - my sage always starts out wimpy, but with patience & less attention, actually, it is a champion. Mine is in varying light conditions, from full sun to partial shade, and it definitely doesn't like too much water. I think sage is probably my favorite herb, and is grossly under-used in cooking!

I mix my herbs in with my normal plants and shrubs, I also have a pot of herbs near my back door to avoid stumbling around in the dark too.
I found a great web site that covers companion planting and garden lore.
They also sell lots of great plants and herbs.

Here is a link that might be useful: Plant companion info

All my sages grow in garden beds mixed with other grey leaved perrennials and roses. I can't seem to kill them ... and as beckles said - lots of cuttings in spring and autumn so that I always have sage to give away. The grey leaved officianalis is easiest to grow. The purpled leaved ones take a season to bush out and grow nicely, and the variegated ones are somewhere in between. Pineapple sage is a weed as far as I'm concerned - they grow like monsters and takeover the bed. I've thown out several this season past but they self-seed all over the garden - I've found them growing in some of my potted roses!!
Steve

I grow vegetables, herbs and flowers together as well as having a few herbs in pots closer to the back door. The sage in my vegie patch only lasted a year then died but the other one in the terracotta pot is still doing well (both were planted at the same time). It is a really robust healthy bush and lovely in flower at the moment. I think it likes the slightly drier environment in the pot although I do water it reasonably regularly.

I live and work in New York City in the US. Using herbs as part of the garden is essential for those that do not have the luxury of space for a formal herb garden. I am a horticulturist and herbalist who works at the Queens Botanical Garden in NYC. I teach urban gardeners how to integrate herbs into their small urban gardens without sacrificing bloom, fragrance or ease of maintenance. Remember, most herbs are biennials or perennials in their native environments, and can be grown as any other. Don't forget to add medicinal and/or fragrant trees and shrubs as part of your garden. Some grasses and sedges are also medicinal (though possibly invasive, so be careful).

Two books you should look at are:
HERBS IN BLOOM
A Guide ot Growing Herbs as Ornamental Plants by
Jo Ann Gardener
Timber Press, 1998

USING HERBS IN THE LANDSCAPE
by Debra Kirkpatrick
Stackpole Books, 1992

Both of these books are available from Amazon (amazon.com) at discount prices. Hopefully you can receive books from them in Australia.

What is your weather like there? Soil conditions? Growing period? I am very curious to know what other herbalists and herb afficionados are doing in various parts of the world.

Cinzia

To Cinzia,

Here in Perth our soil is mainly sandy. On top of that, we have mild-ish winters and searing hot summers with days up to 40 degrees C for over a week or so. So it looks like our growing period is mainly in the cooler months, like autumn, winter and early spring. I guess some people may say we have a Mediterranean climate (or so my school textbook says) ;-). Lavender did quite well in our garden and the school across the road has mass planted them beside the pavement for the whole street. Rosemary also does quite well. I've also been growing coriander, basil, chives, garlic chives, mint, thyme and parsley. The parsley, mint and thai basil don't seem to like the heat too much. 90% of the parsley was literally air dryed in a day on the plant a couple of days ago.

So what are the backyards in the Big Apple like?

Just another question: Those books you mentioned, are they valid for the southern hermisphere and Australian conditions?

Saintin

herbs are not only the most wonderful companion plants, keeping pests at bay, strengthening plants etc, but i really recommend planting your garden in groups of cuisine - not only does putting basil and dill near tomatoes and capsicum(peppers for those of the US persuasion) keep the pests at bay, but its a onestop dash to the garden come pasta time! likewise, garlic, ginger, & asian veg.???(not tested yet!) also keeping plants of similar disposition together makes crop rotation easier (read: possible!!!)goodluck...

i have a partial shade/sandy area in my coastal garden that i would love to grow herbs or vegies in. Any reccomendations of what might work well?
Aimee

hi meganxxx,
you mentioned that herbs keep pests at bay and that keeping plants of a similiar disposition together makes crop rotation easier.
i am very much an ametuer and would like to know what you mean by disposition and crop rotation (ie what is it?)
thanks