Greenin’ Up

By Sharon Hagemann

One of the many positive attributes of container gardening is that you can start out modestly with a few culinary herbs in clay pots or a window box, and then jump right in and make whatever design or horticultural statement suits you.

Beyond available space and the type of container you want, one of the first things to consider is your site’s exposure. How much sun does the area get each day? Most culinary herbs like sun for at least four to five hours a day, and if they don’t get it, they get spindly and lose flavor and aroma. The second concern is wind. The majority of herbs like sheltered spots, and the breezes on the 20th floor of an apartment building aren’t always so gentle! But in such conditions, the determined gardener simply provides a “windscreen” of some kind, and avoids tall plants.

It may come as a surprise, but choosing the right potting soil may be the most critical decision you can make. Many potted plants fail because of drainage problems, and simply lining the bottom of the pots with shards or a layer of stones before spading in garden soil is not enough. Even easily crumbled garden soil is too heavy for container gardening.

The key to potting soil is porosity, which doesn’t refer to how much water it can hold, but how much air. Tiny root hairs need air, and soil that compacts too easily can be fatal to potted plants. You can buy potting soil or make it yourself, should room and inclination permit. Garden center potting soil—the kind that is dark and rich looking—may appear inviting, but it is too heavy. The socalled “soilless” mixtures, which contain peat moss, vermiculite, and/or perlite plus lime and nutrients, are better.

Not surprisingly, most herb experts recommend mixing your own potting soil, using loamy soil, compost or peat moss and coarse sand. Some recommend using equal parts of each, plus a handful of lime. Avoid fine sand, which compacts easily.

Once you’ve got your design set, gathered your pots and bought or mixed your potting soil, what herbs should you plant? If your interest in herbs is primarily culinary, you might choose to grow oregano, sage, thyme, chives and lavender in the side openings of a strawberry jar, with parsley and lemon verbena to top it off. Or you could combine a group of sunloving herbs such as sweet basil, lemon basil and sweet marjoram in a large pot. Chervil, coriander and parsley also make good pot mates, and require less sun and a little more water than the basils.

Finally, all planning and preparation will be for naught if your container garden doesn’t get enough water. The soil in pots dries out faster than garden soil, so it’s not unusual for container gardens to need daily watering. Bear in mind that porous containers such as terra cotta pots dry out faster than glazed or plastic. What you want to avoid is letting your container herbs dry out completely. That will spell total ruin for delicate roots, and will affect the plant’s growth, aroma and flavor. Containers are best watered in the morning so excess water will evaporate during the day.

In addition to regular and frequent watering, container gardens need to be fertilized. Newly potted herbs can get by for four to eight weeks without fertilizer, but after that they’ll probably need a feeding every seven to 10 days. Try mixtures such as SchultzInstant Fertilize or MaestroGroSuper Plus fertilizer and plant food.

When all is said and done, container gardening is really not all that difficult. Once everything is planted where you want it, plan to spend about 15 minutes per day tending your charges. And, plan to sp

end many pleasurable hours enjoying the fruit of your labors!