h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Well not so much a garden as a place to grow some plants

My daughter, who is nearing 4, is very keen to grow some sunflowers, and my parnter, who is nearing 24, is keen on having a herb garden so she can make her own pesto's and pluck stuff for her many wondrous culinary delights

I have, for want of a better word, prepared a 2 foot by about 4 foot rectangle of earth against the fence in our back-lawn. I've dug up the soil, which is rather rocky but seems nice and earthy, loads of worms etc. and it has rather wonderfully rained lightly this morning too. The spot gets a good amount of morning sun, but is shaded in the afternoon by the hedge and fence.

Has anyone got any tips for the best herbs to try and grow for a beginner herb garden? Will the sunflowers grow alright in a rocky garden or should I try and 'weed' out the larger stones as such?

Any hints and tips most gratefully received

MJ

One thing to remember about herbs is that they grow at very different rates and to very different sizes. Be particularly careful of mint--it is a real thug that will take over your whole flowerbed if you let it! A good idea with mint is to take a long piece of pipe (the width of drainpipe) and put it vertically into the flowerbed. If you plant the mint inside it its sideways spread is limited by the pipe, but the drainage is still normal.

Chives, oregano, thyme and marjoram are all very well-behaved and will stay reasonably neat, so they're quite safe to begin with. Sage can get a bit bigger and messier looking, so you need to stop it overshadowing the others. A baytree will grow enormous if you let it, but as long as you clip it can be fairly manageable. Rosemary will eventually grow into a medium-sized rather messy shrub, and it doesn't like being clipped as much as bay, but for a few years it should be okay.

If you like Japanesese food, horseradish for wasabi is very easy to grow, but be warned, it's a very ugly looking plant like a big dock, and it's almost impossible to get rid of once it's established itself. (The root, that you grate to use, will grow back from even the tiniest bit left in the soil.)

If you're buying the plants in a garden centre rather than getting bits from friends' gardens, look out for more decorative varieties: there may be ones with variegated or yellow leaves, or better flowers, which still have the same taste and smell.

I've never grown sunflowers, so I can't tell you anything about them.

Azara

Oh, and I've always found basil (for pesto) a bit on the delicate side, and better off in a pot on the kitchen windowsill than planted outside.

Azara

Oh! Azara, that's a great help! We're in the beginnings of things really, but you've definitely helped narrow things down. (it's not a big plot after all )

It's been a while since I've done any proper gardening, but the wee one is keen, so thought I'd best seek advice before jumping in wellies n all so to speak

Another thumbs up for thyme from me - it is pretty hardy, smells wonderful and is quite hard to kill

If you can get them, garlic chives have a nice flavour and are difficult to buy in shops so a good thing to grow yourself, and they are easy to grow from seeds. I've also got a russian tarragon that is doing well despite me pulling it completely at the end of last year - for some reason I though it was an annual but when I saw the size of the root thought it must be perennial so stuck it back in. Amazingly, it isn't dead yet

Oregano is fantastic and has pretty flowers as an added bonus. Dill and fennel both get qute tall and flower like mad. Unless you are quick they seem to be able to flower and blow seeds all over the garden seemingly overnight so can be a bit of a pain.

I think coriander and parsley are fairly easy to grow but I don't have either because I don't much like them so can't really advise.

Never grown sunflowers so can't help with that -

I always do this, but I will disagree about mint. I plant it in my garden, and yes it does get quite spread about, but if there are lots of plants around it, it never gets all over the place, especially if you use it.

I have to plant it in the garden because I harvest so much of it, it dies off too soon when in pots. This year my last lot hasn't grown at all, so I'm going for spearmint.

If you just want the patch to be something to look at then yes, plant in a pot or a pipe, but if you're going to use it for cooking, drinking or other purposes A636914 then you can plant it in the garden with no worries.

This is great stuff, thanks all

Are there any herbs that we shouldn't plant together?

I don't really think there are any combinations you should avoid. None I can think of anyway.

As far as basil for pesto goes - see if you can get a variety called Napolitano. Sometimes it's called lettuce-leaved basil or something. It has enormous leaves, so it's good if you're looking for a plentiful supply.

I wouldn't bother trying to dig out all the stones though - for one thing, herbs like very good drainage, so the stones mightn't be too bad. For another, well - life's to short!

Sunflowers should do ok too. I don't think they are a very fussy breed in general.

KB - I sure as heck wasn't planning on picking out all the itty bitty stones

I'll look out for the basil variety though