Herb Gardening

October 2006

By Gene Joyner, Extension Agent
Palm Beach County Cooperative Extension Service

This month now conditions are getting good for starting up our fall plantings and renovations of our herb gardens that might have suffered during the summer months.

Retail garden centers and nurseries have good inventories of herb seeds as well as some young transplants of your favorites and people are getting more in the mood to get out and start working in the landscape as we start to cool down our temperatures a little bit.

If you have areas that are heavily infested with weeds, apply mulch layers to the herb garden to help control and slow down weed competition. Also many people are turning to herb gardening as container plants rather than outside traditional gardens and this may be better if you have small areas or would prefer them grown in a screen room or pool area.

Make sure that herbs are watched carefully as we start into our dry season for buildups of spider mites which occur very quickly. These can be controlled with insecticidal soap products or simply washing off the leaves regularly with a strong stream of water from your garden hose.

If you have questions about herb plants or have problems in your garden that you can’t figure out easily, check with fellow members at monthly meetings or call your county Extension office for free advice and assistance.