How do I grow herbs?

Herbs fail in gardens mostly because they're treated as one category. Rosemary killed by kindness in rich damp soil and basil starved in a dry pot are the same mistake in opposite directions. Split them into two groups and each becomes straightforward.

What you'll need

• Pots with drainage holes
• Peat-free compost, plus grit for Mediterranean herbs
• A sunny spot
• Watering can
• Seeds or young plants (optional)

Step by step

1. Divide your herbs into Mediterranean and soft.Mediterranean: rosemary, thyme, sage, oregano, lavender. Soft: basil, parsley, coriander, chives, mint, dill.
2. For Mediterranean herbs, use free-draining compost with added grit, in full sun.About a third grit. They evolved on dry hillsides and rot in wet, rich soil.
3. Water Mediterranean herbs sparingly, only when the compost is dry.Overwatering kills far more rosemary and thyme than drought does.
4. For soft herbs, use standard compost and keep it moist but not waterlogged.These are fast-growing annuals or short-lived perennials that want steady moisture.
5. Plant mint in its own container, always.It spreads by runners and will smother anything sharing its pot within a season.
6. Sow coriander and dill directly where they'll grow and sow little and often.Both resent root disturbance and both bolt quickly. Successional sowing every few weeks gives a continuous supply.
7. Harvest regularly, taking from the top and never more than a third at once.Regular cutting keeps plants bushy. Basil in particular gets leggy and flowers if left uncut.
8. Bring tender herbs indoors or protect them over winter.Basil dies at the first cold night. Rosemary, thyme and sage are hardy in most of the UK.

Tips

• Supermarket herb pots contain many seedlings crowded together. Split them into two or three pots with fresh compost and they'll live months instead of days.
• Pinch out the growing tip of basil above a pair of leaves and it branches into a much bushier plant.
• Chives, mint, thyme and rosemary are the most forgiving. Start with those if you've killed herbs before.
• A herb that flowers has usually stopped producing good leaves — pinch out flower buds on basil and coriander to extend the harvest.

Common mistakes

• Treating all herbs the same — Mediterranean and soft herbs want opposite conditions. One watering regime kills half of them.
• Overwatering rosemary, thyme and sage — Root rot. They want to dry out between waterings.
• Planting mint in a bed or shared pot — It spreads aggressively by runners and crowds out everything else.
• Leaving supermarket pots as sold — Twenty seedlings in one small pot exhaust the compost within weeks.

Questions people ask