A PLANTED container of culinary herbs is a joy to behold and is such a valuable tool in any keen gardener and cooks armoury, writes TOM ATTWOOD. The advantage of growing herbs in a pot is that the soil conditions can be tailored for getting them through the wettest of summers and winters without them grinding to a halt as they might if planted in a garden border. The majority of herbs including rosemary, lavender, thyme and sage, do not appreciate having excess moisture around their roots and stems and therefore what you need to maximise is the movement of excess water. The simplest way to do this is to use plenty of horticultural grit when planting up the container as well as ensuring there is sufficient drainage through the bottom of the pot. Place pieces of slate/broken pot or stones around the drainage hole to avoid it blocking up. If the container is plastic and the hole for drainage is rather pathetic then drill some additional holes for back up. Horticultural grit is the best option as it’s washed and free from contaminants. As your chosen herbs are likely to be planted up for several seasons it’s worth using a compost with some body to it and the soil-based John Innes composts are perfect. I use John Innes No3 that I’ll mix with some additional grit and every spring and early autumn I’ll fork some slow release fertiliser into the surface such as blood, fish or bone or an artificial fertiliser such as growmore. The majority of herbs love the sun so choose as open a site as possible, preferably south facing. I’ve found the key to keeping the growth fresh is to pick regularly even if you don’t always need the leaves to encourage side branching of the young shoots and therefore a healthy crop of new leaves to harvest. Many herbs will freeze perfectly well when picked so any additional harvests can be banked for future use.

Next week: is an irrigation system worth the effort?