The Container Gardening Expert

Herbs come in three varieties: annual; biennial, and perennial. Annuals and biennials bloom once only (annuals in their first year, biennials in their second year), drop seeds, then die, while perennials just keep going – dying back over winter then growing again in the spring. Growing perennial herbs outdoors is great because they’re easy-care and keep coming back to make your garden look beautiful year after year. Perennial herbs include mint, oregano, marjoram, sage, thyme, and tarragon, which are also some of the very best herbs for culinary purposes.

Here are some of the very best outdoor perennial herb-growing tips:

1. As for any new garden bed, you should begin by preparing the soil. At a minimum you should loosen the soil and add organic matter to it. Many herbs like a faster-draining soil, so consider digging up your garden bed and putting in a layer of crushed rock first, then soil over the top.

2. If you’re growing plants from seed, it’s really better to start them in trays or pots for the first year, rather than planting them directly in the ground. They’ll have little presence in the first year anyway, and having them in a container like this will allow you to more easily keep an eye on them.

3. Always keep plants well-watered when they are getting established after being transplanted. You can (and should) back off on the watering once they are established, though.

4. If your perennials aren’t doing as well as you’d hoped, look up the pH requirements for those plants and then test the pH for your soil. You might find that it’s not as alkaline as your plants would like.

5. Perennials should live for 4-5 years, but if you have some that do poorly no matter what you do, first try transplanting them to a different spot, but if that doesn’t work, cut your losses and euthanize them. Gardening is often a process of trial and error, informed by a little research and some educated guesses.

6. Perennial gardens aren’t all about the plants. When you’re planning out your garden, consider adding such things as low stone walls, borders and stepping stones. If you have some perennials that are adapted to warmer conditions than where you live, stone and rock features in your garden will help them to survive by absorbing the sun’s rays and then emitting warmth at night.

7. It’s best to ‘deadhead’ (remove with a pair of secateurs) spent flowers, as leaving dead flowers on your plants both looks ugly and won’t promote re-blooming.

8. Perennials won’t need as much water as (for example) a vegetable garden, and some perennial herbs (once established) won’t need any additional water at all. If you live somewhere very hot then you might need to water during summer, but do it with a drip system to avoid getting the foliage wet.

Hopefully these tips on growing perennial herbs come in handy and your herb garden flourishes.