  
|
Planting
|
|
| Free Advice - Herbs for Summer |
 |
Al fresco herbs for summer
A warmer than average spring left many gardeners feeling as if
summer had already started, but a few sharp frosts caught out many
magnolias and other spring flowering shrubs.
However, now the evenings are pleasantly light and after a
long day at work, why not spend time outside with a sprinkling of
friends and the offerings of a well planned garden? Eating outside in the garden during the summer is one of
the benefits of having your own external space and you may be
thinking about the ever popular barbecue to entertain your guests. |
|
Whatever
your culinary tastes, you can hardly do better than an accompaniment of
fresh herbs, hand picked and full of instant flavour. If you’re
cooking meat like lamb, the first choice has to be rosemary. It can
either be added as a sprig or finely chopped.
Very easy to grow if given a sunny place with good drainage and
there are many varieties available from the blue R.
officinalis to the upright form, ‘Miss Jessop’s Upright’,
ideal where space is limited.
For
salads, try the classic favourites, Petroselinum crispum (parsley) or Allium schoenoprasum (chives). Both will tolerate partial shade for
the smaller courtyard garden and have the added bonus of possessing
contrasting foliage. Although
much more tender than other common herbs, basil, Ocimum
basilicum can be planted out after the threat of frosts has passed
and makes an ideal companion to tomato-flavoured dishes and pasta
sauces. Pinch out the tips
to keep plants bushy.
There
are some herbs of course that positively should only be grown in a pot
unless you have a lot of space to surrender. Mint is notable for its
invasiveness but can be used in salads (Mentha
x piperita – peppermint) or mint sauce (Mentha
spicata – spearmint).
Herbs
don’t all have to be small either. The evergreen bay laurel, Laurus
nobilis is capable of growing into a small tree if left unpruned and
its leaves are commonly added to sauces, soups and desserts.
You
can’t beat the taste of home-grown herbs and with so many to choose
from, there’s a herb to suit every culinary palate.
BACK
to the advice point, please
|
|
|
|
|
adam s bailey
BA Hons (Garden Design), MGLD
Unit 9, Home Farm, 3 Riverside, Eynsford, Kent, DA4 0AE
Garden design in Kent • East Sussex
• Essex • South East London
|
Member of
The Guild of
Landscape Designers
|
|
|
