It's that time of year.. when I do battle with the Omnipotent Ground Ivy. It is everywhere, ever present and forever threatening my desired plants! After 1 1/2 hours of hand weeding and 3
black garbage bags full of ground ivy and cinquefoil... I discovered I have a number of herbs that lived through the drought....

I found 2 lavender plants.. (they are more drought tolerant.. ) the Bee Balm (bergamot) plants that I had transplanted into the laid out herb garden had not only survived but they had also spread out and multiplied (which is what moisture loving plants do in dry conditions.. they don't send up much, but they branch out underground. So I should have a lovely bed of red blossoms come July 4th (My bee balm blooms just in time for DD's bd of July 4th!) I also discovered a lot of apple mint plants that had done the spreading at the roots routine. I think I am going to transplant what I dug out with the ground Ivy to the lower 40 and let that mint take over that ditch/young stream I have down there.

All in all... everything came out smelling... lovely. I broke off some lavender stems hoping I would get a broader growth from the stems below. My friend used to cut her lavender back in December of all the times and claimed to get a large bushing outgrowth... I haven't tried that.. but I was wondering if any of you have cut your lavender back at this time of the year so it branches out bigger and more boldly for the pruning? The 2 cuttings I took tonight smell out of this world!

Perhaps I should cut it back.. get some root tone and root those cuttings and start a whole new patch...

I just planted the lavender that I potted up and moved with us. It will be a while before it starts greening up, if it isn't dead. The roots seemed to be in OK condition.

I did prune this one back by about 1/2.

"the Bee Balm (bergamot) plants that I had transplanted into the laid out herb garden had not only survived but they had also spread out and multiplied (which is what moisture loving plants do in dry conditions.."

I didn't know this. My Bee Balm did the same thing. I thought it was just the way they grow. Last year I planted about four plants. This year I've got more than a dozen, close to the ground.
Wonderful. I didn't get blooms last year, this year should be lovely.

I never know whether or when to trim Lavendar, I did cut back in early Spring. One of mine is about 8 years old, kinda woody, but I love it, and I don't cut it back too much.

Two lavendars I planted last year survived the winter, which is unusual cuz they are annuals. But we had a mild winter. All my Rosemary survived the winter except one, this is the first time in 8 years of gardening that I've had Rosemary survive the winter - in the garden and unprotected.
I've got flowers on Rosemary! First time. They are beautiful.
The 2 sages that I had asked about, that I moved, were both dead. :<
I think that I did not get a big enough ball of dirt when I moved them.

One herb I definitely want to repeat from last year is Lemon Verbena. What a wonderful smell!

I've got lots more Valerian, they reproduce themselves, but to excess. Also wonderfully fragrant.

What herbs are you going to add this year?

ellen

I would love to have some more valerian. The *$^#% ground ivy tends to suffocate my valerian and a lot of things if I can't keep up with it.

I planted some more thyme plants on a walled area I have already cleaned out and planted onions in. I also planted another thing of bergamot that I had bought before I discovered how much bee balm I have now.

Ground Ivy is why I haven't cared much for Mulch, because if I don't apply it over and over and about 1 foot deep (as in my lasagna gardens) the darn ground ivy comes up and runs over top of the mulch in a matter a days and it takes a long time and lots of labor to pull it all out. I need to go back and work on those areas again tonight. Especially the part I plan
to plant the tomatoes and peppers. That area I will just lasagna/layer 12 inches deep to keep the darn stuff smothered.

I am planning on planting summer savory, basil of course, calendulas, dill, and cilantro from the annuals. Most of my other stuff is already out there. I have some English Lavender seeds I plan to start too.

I have the same problem with Yarrow that you have with the ground ivy. I have realized I can't "live and let live", I need to get rid of it as much as possible, otherwise it makes it impossible for other things to grow.

And putting down wood chips was a big mistake. I swear the stuff LIKES wood chips. Then it just made it harder to dig out.

What does work, to an extent - I cover with plastic, then several inches of newspaper, then wood chips. Of course that is only possible where nothing else is growing.

Oh, I am on the warpath against this Yarrow!

Re growing Lavender from seeds -
Do you sow direct?
I winter sow a lot of annuals with good results, but for some reason I have this idea that it is hard to grow herbs from seed.

This is my first year for herbs. I wintersowed chives, sage, marjoram, dill, chamomile, parsley, and some veggies. They all came up! I think that'll be all for my herb garden this year. I was planning on buying mint, oregano, rosemary, and thyme plants but I'm afraid the budget won't allow it this year.

Ericah,, I bought lavender seeds for the same reason.. my budget won't allow to buy plants of lavender.

I sow the seeds in pots. I had really good luck with Lavender and thyme back in 1986.. Those plants lived a long time. I haven't tried them much since then. But I'm going to try it this year.

What kind of thyme does the best? DD

I haven't had luck with lavender when buying the plants. So, I got a bunch of seeds to try. I also got a very very small lavender plant at the local nursery a couple weeks ago. It is such a tiny little thing. I kept changing my mind about buying it, then I kept finding that I put it in the cart. I baby it like I do with my tomatoes - not by over-fertilizing or over-watering, but by looking at it all the time, checking its health. I know you aren't supposed to give them too much water, but that always seemed wrong to me. I check the soil several times before I give it water.

I love herbs and am determined to try several different herbs and not kill them all. I am growing quite a few from seeds but have a few little plants to provide incentive. Teas with my own herbs are great, even if they aren't all from my own seeds.

I also have horrible luck with basil. I have one basil left I bought as a plant - cinnamon basil. But I planted a lot of cinn. basil seeds and they all died. I'll keep trying. Just as I'll keep trying with lavender and other herbs. I killed thyme - I thought they would survive anything! I wish I could afford to buy a ton of herb plants, then propagate from those that spread or root easily from cuttings.