Good‘s new gardening expert Zoe Carafice is ready and waiting to solve your dilemmas! Each question published on Zoe’s blog or in Good receives a fab prize from Tui Garden. This week: how to bring your herb garden back to life.
Email your gardening questions to [email protected] and every question answered in Good or on Zoe’s blog will receive a fab prize from Tui Garden Products!
Q: We have recently moved into a new house that has an existing vegetable and herb garden. The problem with the herb garden is that it seems overgrown and woody. We use a lot of herbs so I want to tidy up and plant new herbs into the garden. How do I rescue the existing herbs and tidy them up and when is the best time to do that? The landlord returns at the end of the year and I know she loves her garden so I don’t want to clear the garden out and start again or she’ll be horrified! –Vanessa
A: A lot of herbs are annuals so depending on what you have growing it may be time to pull them out and plant new ones. Perennial herbs like rosemary quickly become woody so give it a good cut back; it will shoot away with new growth and look as good as new. Low-growing perennial herbs like thyme and oregano can also do with a good trim if they are starting to look scrappy.
Now is a great time to start sowing herbs from seed. All your summer herbs such as basil, coriander and parsley can be sown now in punnets indoors or in a frost-free spot in the garden. They will be ready to plant out in your new herb garden when spring has truly arrived.
Herbs are fast-growing so don’t be scared to start again; spend some of these long winter evenings planning your dream summer herb garden!
–Zoe Carafice
Vanessa has won a bottle of Tui Seasol from Tui Garden Products! Seasol is a seaweed-based plant tonic that has been used by Australian and New Zealand commercial growers and home gardeners for over 30 years.
Seasol is made from seaweed that is sustainably sourced. The naturally occurring growth stimulants in Seasol promote strong root growth, reduce transplant shock, improve germination rates and increase flowering and fruiting capacity.
Seasol can be used in all gardening situations and at all times of the year when using a fertiliser may be inappropriate, for example during winter.
Meet Good’s new gardening expert
Zoe Carafice is a landscape designer and photographer. She won gold at the Ellerslie Flower Show in 2007 and has a keen interest in sustainable design and organic gardening.
Email your gardening questions to [email protected] and every question answered in Good or on Zoe’s blog will receive a fab prize from Tui Garden Products!
One question will be featured in each magazine and in each Good Fortnightly e-newsletter. Don’t receive our newsletter? Sign up to get it here!
