Which are the hardiest herbs? 4 answers on Quora.

Which are the hardiest herbs?

What a great introduction to a post I didn’t even think to publish! Seems that the Quora site let’s me publish my responses to questions here and also throw them onto the Ground to Ground Twitter and Facebook groups. So maybe not such a bad deal.

Seeing how we now have a post about Herbs, how about we make it more interesting….

Coffee Grounds for Growing Herbs

Growing herbs is one of the greatest of gardening jobs, as the benefits extend far beyond grabbing a few leaves of something to improve the flavour of a meal. Most of the plants and vegetables that we grow will do better in the presence of herbs, and they will help to attract helpful insects and repel the bad ones.

Sage is a favourite of mine, as it is hardy and loved by Rosemary, Cabbage, and most beans. It will deter cabbage flies and attract bees.

Hyssop attracts beneficial insects and I was fortunate to seed these in one of my favourite old terracotta pots. I do find them slow growing and hope it is worth the wait! Have also been told they improve grape yields so have put a couple out the front with the Sultana vine.

Stinging Nettle is one of the most useful herbs to have in any garden, although most consider it a weed unfortunately. Nettle likes the nitrogen rich qualities of coffee compost.

And here we have Mint, which is about as hardy as they come. This particular batch was started over a year ago from a single cutting taken from a neighbour, and then left in a small plastic pot in full sun and with no water. I decided to treat it better this year, mainly because it helps everything else grow well and deters Cabbage White Butterfly, which is a real pest around Brassica crops.