Herbs

Looking for some easy plants to grow this autumn? Look no further than herbs. There are plenty of choices to plant out in the autumn garden – like oregano, thyme, sage & coriander.

Best part about herbs, you can always find a spot for them no matter what size your yard.
There are a number of ways to start your herb garden. An extremely cost effective way is by seed.

Spread some seed raising mix in a flat tray or, better still, a mini-greenhouse. Sprinkle over the seeds as evenly as possible. Then cover with more mix and gently water. These will germinate in about a week and will ready to be planted out around 3-4 weeks after sowing.

Another way to start an herb garden is buying ready to plant seedlings from your local garden centre. No matter which way you want to start an herb garden, the most important part is making sure the soil or potting mix you are planting in is rich and fertile.

If planting out in pots, choosing the right potting mix is easy. Always go with a premium grade – you’ll spot the word premium on the bag plus the 5 ticks of approval.

Soil, on the other hand, can be a different matter. Ideally we want soil that’s well drained but still holds enough moisture and nutrients around the plant roots. The secret to improving your soil’s fertility is organic matter.

Organic matter acts as the building block for good soil development. Compost is an obvious additive, as are organic based fertilizers such as Yates Dynamic Lifter which provides more than just bulk.

What’s different about Yates Dynamic Lifer? It’s the all-natural ingredients – Firstly the chicken manure base – of all the animal manures, chicken poo really packs a nutrient punch. Then there’s Blood and Bone, fish meal and seaweed all combined and composted and finally turned into these easy to apply pellets.

The pellets don’t disappear with the first watering, instead break down in a controlled manner, providing a slow and steady release of nutrients which in turn feeds the valuable soil microbes, increasing their numbers and turning those nutrients into plant ready food.

Organic matter acts like a sponge, coating the soil and, as I’ve already mentioned, helps to hold moisture and nutrients around the roots. With the organic fertilizer slowly releasing nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, plus earthworms working their way up to have a munch, there’s a lot of good things going on down here. Now for the herbs.

Whether you’re planting in the ground or in a pot – dig a hole, sprinkler some Yates Dynamic Lifter in, pop in the plant and give it a gentle water. Then keep up regular applications of your organic fertilizer to give those herbs a top growing future.