I cannot wait to get out into the garden this weekend, or on the next dry day – I have a nice long list of small jobs to do, none of which are too strenuous and I’m looking forward to getting stuck in. First on my list is my herb garden. To say it needs a little TLC is understating it…
As you can see from the photo above, there’s not a lot of fresh foliage at the moment – the perennials, like mint, parsley and chives are only just beginning to grow, and the lack of foliage means it is much easier to get in and remove weeds. This becomes a difficult job in the summer months when the herbs are in full flow, so I like to keep on top of it at this time of year.
Whilst I’m at it, all the twiggy dead stalks of chives, vietnamese coriander, lavender and so on will be pulled out and cut back – they can all go on the compost pile – to leave space for the new growth to push through.
Another job I’ll be doing is dividing pots of mint. Mint has an annoying habit of pushing its way to the edge of the pot, rather than growing from the middle each year. This means that by year 3 the pots are rather bare in the centre. I’ll be upturning the pots of mint, carefully dividing the root ball into 2 or 3 new pieces, and replanting into new pots. This should look much healthier and more attractive!
My rosemary is mostly looking good this year, although there are a few pots where I can see the tips of leaves starting to turn yellow and brown – the roots have probably got a bit too wet over the past few weeks, and the strong cold winds won’t have helped either. I’ll be moving those pots into the greenhouse so that they can dry out a bit and enjoy the shelter. Hopefully they will survive to tell the tale!