Discover herb queen Jekka McVicar‘s favourite herbs to plant in spring. Grow in pots and containers, or raised beds to give them the good drainage they need and enjoy tasty pickings this summer.
Jekka McVicar has been growing and selling herbs at Jekka’s Herb Farm for more than 30 years. Here, she picks five essential herbs for planting in spring.
Herbs should be planted in raised beds or in pots. If you’d like to do the latter and create a herb container garden, make sure you select pots with holes in the bottom.
Jekka’s favourite herbs to plant in spring
1. Sorrel (Rumex acetosa)
This is a hardy herbaceous perennial with young leaves that are great in salads and soups thanks to their refreshing lemon flavour.
- Remove flowers when they appear to keep the plant producing leaves into early autumn.
- Grow your plants in partial shade, to prevent the leaves becoming tough, bitter and inedible in summer.
- Ideally, plant in a rich, preferably acid soil, but it will adapt to moisture retentive soils.
- Grow it from seed or division.
2. Garlic chives (Allium tuberosum)
The leaves and flowers of this hardy perennial have a light garlicky flavour that is lovely in salads, stir-fry dishes and with vegetables. The leaves are long, narrow, flat, lance-shaped and mid-green and the white midsummer flowers are an attractive star-shape.
- Plant in a fertile, well-draining soil, in a sunny position.
- Can be raised from seed or division.
3. Lemon verbena (Aloysia citriodora)
The short, narrow, bright-green, rough-textured leaves of lemon verbena have a stunning lemon sherbet scent when rubbed, and there are panicles of tiny white flowers in summer. Lemon verbena makes a delicious herb tea.
- This deciduous shrub is half hardy so needs to be planted in a light, free-draining soil in a warm position, say against a sunny wall, or in a container that can be brought in for the winter.
- Lemon verbena can only be raised from cuttings so you’ll need to buy a plant.
4. Lovage (Levisticum officinale)
When crushed, lovage’s leaves release a celery scent. It’s the young growth of this hardy perennial that are used in the kitchen. Tiny pale flowers appear in summer, followed by brown seeds that are great crushed and used in soups.
- Plant it in a rich, well-fed, well-drained soil in full sun or partial shade and use the young leaves in salads, soups and sauces.
- Can be raised from seed or division.
5. Sweet marjoram (Origanum majorana)
Sweet marjoram is a half-hardy perennial shrub but it’s more often grown as an annual in the UK. The leaves are very aromatic and when grown as a companion plant, it deters aphids from other plants nearby in summer and is said to improve the flavour of other vegetables when planted between the rows. Essential in tomato sauces, with tomatoes, salads and in marinades.
- Plant it in well-drained soil in a sunny position.
- Can be raised from seed or cuttings.
