Focus on... Caring for herbs

Want to give your herb garden a boost in the winter months ahead? Lucy explains how you can keep your herbs delivering flavour-packed leaves all year round

- Lucy Chamberlain

REGULAR readers of my column will know how much I enthuse about herbs. When carefully used, their unique flavours will elevate a dish from distinctly average to mind-blowing signature – isn’t it brilliant how a plant can do that?

But what can you do with your herbs during their dormant months? Well, first of all, understand that they don’t need to be dormant! Evergreens such as thyme, rosemary, sage and bay will deliver flavour-packed leaves all year round, and even the hardy perennial herbs that would normally die back for winter (such as oregano and mint) can be forced into growth indoors. Propagation, too, can be addressed during the winter months – division, layers and root cuttings are three of the easiest propagation methods that novice gardeners can cut their teeth on.

A place for everything

It pays to remember that, while we group these plants together due to their medicinal, culinary or cosmetic uses, botanically they come from plant families far and wide – so research their care and cultivation individually. Lemongrass (Cymbopogon citratus), for example, hails from south-east Asia, while lemon verbena (Aloysia citrodora) is native to South America.

Both yield a citrus scent and, being tender, both need to be moved somewhere frost-free for winter, such as a heated conservatory – but there the similarity ends. I could go on about lemon balm (Melissa officinalis) and lemon-scented geranium (Pelargonium crispum) but I’d muddy the waters even further – and that’s before I’ve even talked about lemons themselves!

Lucy’s corner