The Herb Garden Replant Plan
Even herbs can succumb to unusual weather – here’s my plan to replant the herb garden after a particularly hard winter.
Hello, friends! I recently began the replant of our back door herb garden that was pretty much decimated by our -10 degree weather we had this last winter, and I thought I’d take you along on a little tour with some details of the replanting plan.
I actually was pretty surprised at the losses, since this herb garden is located up agains a southern-facing wall of the house. But the only things that survived without any damage were the chives (and really, what can kill them?) and a variety of low-growing thyme called Lime.
Just to help you feel my pain (ha!) above is a look at the garden last October – lush and slightly overgrown. After cutting back and looking at everything, here’s the final tally of the perennial herbs that were lost:
- Two 5-year old rosemary bushes
- A 3-year old French tarragon
- Two French lavender plants
- A 4-year old lemon verbena
- A potted sweet bay (this was iffy – not surprised by this)
- Two spearmint plants
Herb Garden Replant
I was able to cut back and replant a start from the huge oregano plant, and it’s doing well, and I’m attempting to see if the common thyme and variegated thyme will regrow from the two sad-looking partial plants above (the Lime thyme is in the foreground).
Looking at this picture, though, makes me think I really just need to replant these, too. Sigh.
The Updated Layout
As long as I need to replant, I’ve decided to go with a different layout, which I’ve tried to illustrate in the picture above.
The biggest thing I want to do is to find a fountain that is self-contained because when we removed the huge deck we found a pipe for something in the ground under the terra-cotta lid you can see to the left of the middle pot (which is just there as a place marker). So, no planting there and no diy bubbling pot fountain like I thought we’d do. UPDATE: Go here to see the herb garden with it’s fountain!
I want to provide some vertical interest with a couple of small trellises in the pots where I’m growing spearmint and peppermint (I learned many years ago to NEVER plant mint in the ground…). I’d also like to get some narrow lattice for the side of the deck and house foundation, which I’ll just lean it against to cover the not-so-nice stuff going on there. UPDATE: check out the garden tour here with finished deck sides.
And of course I’ll need to finish purchasing the replacements. The garden center where I bought the mint, sage, parsley, and lavender did not have any rosemary or Italian parsley. I have three basil seedlings hardening off this week to fill their spot and I would like to find a small herb to plant in front of the future fountain – do you have any suggestions for me?
Well, if it’s any consolation, I even lost my thyme. The chives are the only one that made it in my yard. The regular ones that I had in a pot and some Chinese ones that are in the ground. Oh wait, I lied. My potted spearmint and pineapple mints made it. Of course. It sucks that you lost everything, but on the flip side, it’s kinda fun to start over no? If I were to add to your list, I’d say definitely a pineapple sage. I’ve always grown the regular green one that gets about 2 feet small and wide, but I also added a golden leafed one this year that stays small. I LOVE that plant, and so do the hummingbirds. I still need to replace my tarragon – I love that, too.
P.S. I got your email and my goal is to get back to you during naptime today. Just didn’t want you to think I was ignoring you.
So right, Mindy – I had been thinking about rearranging the herbs anyway. š Tell me more about the pineapple sage – years ago when I grew it, I loved the smell and look of it, but it was a monster at 4+ feet tall, plus I tried it 2 years running and lost it each winter (and they weren’t unusual winters like this last one). You must be growing different varieties – happen to remember the names? I’d love to grow it again, but can’t fit a large plant here.
I love the idea of the fountain in your herb garden. I’ve been looking for places to add one forever!! We were hit hard by the cold snap but not as bad as you. I guess at least it is an excuse to start fresh.
Yep, a true gardener’s perspective! š
Oh man! I’m sorry you lost so much stuff last winter. We had a similar situation a few winters ago only ours was cause be a very sudden cold snap. We went from 60 to 15 in the space of 24 hours and the plants weren’t ready for the change even though it was November. We lost a lot of perennials that year!
Ouch, that would be tough on anything! I actually didn’t lose too many perennials – mainly bushes and the herbs.