herbs

netvista

want to plant a few herbs for the summer. the usual suspects. basil, chives, paisley, thyme and maybe some oregano. nothing major just in one or two windows boxes but i heard that some herbs don't like growning together. don't know if it's true but any other suggestions would be appreciated

artieanna

No there is no rule I have heard of that you can't plant certain herbs together, however, do note that some herbs like mint can be invasive and as a result can choke other herbs.

bmaxi

netvista wrote:

want to plant a few herbs for the summer. the usual suspects. basil, chives, paisley, thyme and maybe some oregano. nothing major just in one or two windows boxes but i heard that some herbs don't like growning together. don't know if it's true but any other suggestions would be appreciated

I've never heard of herbs not liking one another but they may not like the same growing conditions, basil, thyme, oregano would need full sun whereas parsley would prefer some shade and I second Artieanna's point on mint, a real thug, whatever you do don't plant it in the ground. One thing to remember, most herbs don't like peat so don't use a peat based compost, instead use a John Innes soil based one. BTW I assume you are planning on planting young plants rather than seed, some herbs (e.g.basil) can take a long time from seed.

Joshua C. Young

I don't have a degree in Botany(the study of the Biology of Plants), but I'm never the less a Botonist. And I can tell you with absolute certainty that most if not all plants produce chemicals called "Allelopaths", wich are chemicals that are capable of inhibiting the growth and development of other plant species. Plants that are not remotely related to each other will have more of a negative effect upon each other. Fore example; Mentha spicata and Mentha arvensis are in the same Genus "Mentha"(Mints) and are closely related species so they would most likely hybridize with one another and would logically cause little to no negative effects on one another in terms of Allelopathic chemicals and compounds. Likewise an Oak tree may moderately inhibit the sprouting of seeds and the growth of most other plants growing very close to it, if they are not in the Quercus(Oak) Genus or in the Fagus Family wich Oaks belong to as well. So put simply, plants can harm each other's growth and development. However, there are allso plants belonging to different Families and Genus's that appear to harminize together and perform more ideally when planted together. These are called "Companion plants". Most Herbs though I believe will grow quite harmoniously together and appear to be companion plants. I believe that most grasses have negative affects on allmost all sorrounding unrelated plants, including trees, and herbs, so you might want to remove grasses that are in the general area when gardening outdoors. I agree about the aggressiveness of Mints, If you would ever be interested in planting Mint in a garden you could place the mints in a pot that has no holes in the bottom and then plant the pot almost entirely in the ground, this will prevent the mint from spreading aggressively and choking nearby plants. I hope what I've posted will be helpfull and informative.