In your herb garden during February 2012

Things to do in the herb garden this month

• Wander round your garden and see if you can find a few bare spots that would benefit from a herb plant or two. This is a great time of year, when plants aren’t sprawling all over the place, to notice gaps where a new plant could fit.
• February can be both mild and evilly cold. Tender shoots that emerge in mild weather may need some protection against hard frosts and icy winds. Use horticultural fleece or hessian. Remove the protection on warmer days, especially if it has become wet. This will allow air to circulate around the plants.
• Towards the end of the month, top-dress container grown herbs.  Remove the top 5-10cm (2-4in) of compost and replace. Use well rotted garden compost or worm compost mixed with leaf mould or green waste compost. Finish off with a layer of horticultural grit, to improve appearance and retain moisture in dry spells.
• Herbaceous herbs (those that die back over winter) may start into growth by the end of February if the weather is mild. If so, they will benefit from a feed. Mulch with a layer of garden compost (2-5cm/1–2in thick).
• Flick off any dead twigs and fallen leaves lying on top of the plants. They can cause rots if left.
• Check for wind and snow damage. Cut out damaged twigs and branches.
  
• If re-using last years modules, seed trays and pots wash them out well using hot water or Citrox disinfectant, available from The Organic Gardening Catalogue.
• At the end of the month, sow seeds of parsley, sage, chives, chervil and dill in a cold greenhouse, or a cool conservatory. Sow seeds thinly in pots or trays. No need to prick out. When seedlings are big enough just chop up into small clumps and plant out when the weather is suitable. 

• For more information about growing these herbs, check out our Herb growing cards. Originally designed for schools as part of our involvement in the Food for Life Partnership, they are an excellent resource for gardeners of all ages.

  • Warm up the soil prior to planting out or sowing seed. Use polythene or fleece over wire supports to make tunnels. Or you could just cover the soil over without the tunnel supports. 
  The Organic Gardening Catalogue has a huge range of products for soil and crop protection.
  • Check cuttings taken last autumn, such as Balm of Gilead (Cedronella canariensis) and scented geranium (Pelargonium graveolens). Pinch out the growing tip if they are becoming long and leggy.
  • Trim southernwood (Artemisia abrotanum) to maintain an attractive shape. Do not cut back into old wood, as this will kill the plant.
• 
  Mint
  Take root cuttings of mint (Mentha species) to provide a fresh supply of this tasty herb. If kept in the greenhouse, new shoots will be ready to use with your early potatoes in June. Or cuttings can be brought indoors where they will grow more rapidly, ready for spring. Information on taking root cuttings is available here.
• Mint can also be propagated by dividing plants in spring. Seeds are not worthwhile as they often do not breed true and the results may be rather disappointing.  If your mint suffered from  ‘rust’ disease last year, do not use for propagation. Buy in fresh clean plants.
• Mint is very invasive if grown in open soil but is easy to grow in a pot. Pots can be sunk in the soil, leaving the pot top 5-10cm (2-4in) proud of the soil. Or you can leave it as a feature in its own right, with perhaps a flowering plant, or small shrub growing alongside the mint.
• 
  Herb Wheel
  When deciding on what to grow this year, choose species to encourage beneficial insects, such as hoverflies, lacewings and bees, into your garden. Hyssop (Hyssopus officinalis), sage (Salvia officinalis) and thymes (Thymus species) are all popular with these useful creatures. More specific detail can be found with the herbs in The Organic Gardening Catalogue.
• It’s not too late to plan a new herb garden, or add features to an existing one. Ponds can be dug and hard landscaping, or paths, can be laid now, providing weather conditions permit. Treading on wet soil compacts it and damages the structure so try to avoid this.

Flavour from the garden in February

Don’t forget to venture out to pick fresh herbs even at this time of year. The following herbs can provide fresh flavours for the kitchen all through the winter.

• 
  Hyssop

• Hyssop (Hyssopus officinalis)

  Leaves can be added to pulses and salads all year round. Use sparingly as they have a particularly strong sage-mint flavour. Attractive purple, pink or white flowers develop in the summer, adding colour and a sweet mint flavour to a green salad.
  
  Organic hyssop seed available from the Organic Gardening Catalogue.

• 
  There are many beautiful
  sage cultivars

• Sage (Salvia officinalis)

  There are many beautiful sage cultivars available from specialist nurseries. The distinctive flavouring obtained from the leaves can be used in cooking and to make a soothing gargle. The flavour is rather strong but goes well with fatty meats such as pork and with beetroot. A few fresh leaves steeped in a cup of boiling water, which is then cooled, makes a soothing gargle for sore throats, tonsillitis and laryngitis.

  Organic Sage seed available from the Organic Gardening Catalogue

• 
  Lemon thyme

• Thyme (Thymus X citriodorus)

  This low growing herb has a highly aromatic lemony flavour and bright yellow leaves all year round. Delicious in salads and excellent with fish. Use sparingly as it has a particularly pungent flavour. Orange-scented thyme (Thymus fragrantissimus) has a spicy orange scent. It can be used to flavour meat or sweet dishes, such as fruit salads or jam.
  The golden yellow leaves are prone to revert to green. Cut away any reverted leaves as soon as they are seen.

  The golden yellow leaves are prone to revert to green. Cut away any reverted leaves as soon as they are seen.

• 
  Parsley

• Parsley (Petroselinum crispum)

  A well-known biennial herb that can provide leaves all year round. Both curly leaved and flat leaved varieties are available. Parsley leaves have a mild flavour, but if a stronger flavour is required use the stems as well. Cover parsley plants with cloches on cold nights to protect from frosts.
  Parsley can be easily sown in pots for a 'cut and come again' crop. This means that stems can be cut back for use, but fresh foliage will return. In general you can do this about four to five times during the growing season. Place on a suitable window ledge and keep well watered.

  Organic Parsley seed  is available from the Organic Gardening Catalogue

• Horseradish (Armoracia rusticana)

  A very invasive deep-rooting plant that can be difficult to eradicate from the garden if no longer required. If the plant has spread, lift and reduce in size when the weather allows. The root can be harvested any time of the year. Wash the roots before eating. Horseradish root is high in calcium, magnesium and vitamin C. Do not cook as this destroys the flavour. Grate the raw root sparingly into coleslaw, dips, cream cheese and mayonnaise for extra heat.

  The strength of flavour of horseradish varies between spring and autumn. Roots dug in the spring are said to be milder than those dug later in the year.

• Salad burnet (Sanguisorba minor)

  Provides attractive evergreen leaves that can be harvested throughout the year. In the summer quaint red drumstick like flowers look lovely in the herb garden. The leaves have a cucumber like flavour, which taste lovely in salads. This plant can spread. If you are restricted with space, plant in a container. Underplant with spring and autumn crocus, to give colour when salad burnet is no longer flowering.

  This plant can spread. If you are restricted with space, plant in a container. To include colour after the salad burnet has finished flowering, plant bulbs and corms such as spring and autumn crocus.

• Winter savory (Satureja montana)

  A tasty evergreen shrub that originates from southern Europe. Regular picking will produce fresh leaves all year round that can be added to salads, meats and pulses. Fresh winter savory leaves can be used as a substitute for black pepper.
  

  Protect plants over winter if growing in a frost pocket.

• Myrtle (Myrtus communis)

  An attractive, fragrant evergreen shrub. However, as it is not fully hardy it should be protected if growing in an area that suffers from excess cold and frost. It is suitable for container growing. Traditionally a symbol of love, myrtle was often included in bridal bouquets.
  

  The small perfumed leaves can be preserved in vinegar for culinary dishes. Leaves can also be added to potpourri.

Herbs to propagate at this time of year

• English mace (Achillea ageratum)

  If the clump has become too large, now is the time to divide it. In colder areas, divided plants can be overwintered in a cold-frame or cool greenhouse and replanted in the spring.

• 

  Chervil (Anthriscus cerefolium)

  Can be sown now in a cold greenhouse. At the end of the month, once soil has warmed up a little, sow under a cloche in open ground if the weather is very mild. It will provide a crop of delicate, slightly aniseed flavoured leaves, suitable in egg and cheese dishes. Plant chervil in partial shade as too much sun can cause bolting (running to seed). If allowed to self-seed, chervil will produce one early and one late summer crop.

  Organic chervil seed available from the Organic Gardening Catalogue.

• Lemon balm (Melissa officinalis)

  Can be propagated by division if the ground is soft enough to dig. Replant the divided parts around the garden or pot up to give away or sell. Fresh leaves can be used in teas, mixed with chamomile and raspberry leaf for a soothing evening drink.

Blue tit

Pests and diseases

• Herbs in flower will attract pest-eating predators by the thousand. To increase the level of predators, hang fat balls around the garden to attract blue tits. These delightful birds are major aphid eaters, and should, hopefully, keep returning to your garden when the pests arrive. Clean out last year’s nesting box in time for the new season. Baby blue tits will eat thousands of aphids before they fledge.

• Bay sucker overwinters in curled leaves on the plant and in leaf litter on the ground below. You should be able to see affected leaves quite clearly now, so prune out to reduce the pest population.

• Mint rust affects leaves and stems of plants. As shoots appear in spring they become distorted, then orange cups and black pustules develop. Plants can become defoliated. Spores will overwinter in the soil, so if your mint had rust last season, it is better to get rid of the plants, and replant with clean new stock.

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