Best Way To Establish a Herb Hedge

Rosemary, thyme, santolina, box and lavender are among the herbs that can be grown as low hedges to enclose formal features or even to form the fabric of herb parterres. Herb hedges are usually shaped to make linear ribbons of foliage that outline or emphasize special areas of a herb garden. Yew may be slow-growing, but once established it is a very elegant dark-green foil for herbs, and in the wider garden it is especially useful as an architectural hedge plant.

Knot gardens and parterres are the usual formal features created with herb plants. For a silvery effect, use lavender or santolina or even curry plant for the hedge. Thyme, rosemary and box provide green elements, and by mixing the silver and greens you can create a woven effect.

A lavender hedge makes an attractive feature on either side of a pathway, but remember to make the path wide enough to allow the lavender spikes to spill across it and yet leave enough space to walk along.

In a vegetable garden, use parsley, chives or wild strawberries to edge part of the garden. This will create an informal and semi-permanent hedge, which will alter as you harvest from it.

When planting a herb hedge, use plants of the same height and size to achieve a uniform look faster. Plant box or yew into individual planting holes along a line of string. Water the plants in well and, if necessary, provide a temporary windbreak of hessian to help the young plants survive in their first winter.

When the hedge is well established, you can begin to clip it to maintain it. Cut back knot-garden or parterre hedges in early autumn, so that there is time for them to recover before the cold weather sets in. Woody plants such as sage, thyme, lavender and rosemary should be cut back to half the year’s growth to promote bushy shapes. For extra effect, cut special shapes, such as triangles, globes or even whimsical animals or birds, into the hedges.