Herbs - More than a Kitchen Garden

Herbs are the mainstay of the kitchen garden. Whether you grow them for their culinary purposes, medicinal benefits, or for their impact in the landscape, they are the backbone of the edible garden, and sometimes the ornamental garden too, with evergreen herbs bringing structure and colour to the garden when it’s needed most. 
 
Herbs for flavour and structure
Evergreen herbs are regularly used for garden edging (or low hedging), and as permanent groundcovers. Some of the most popular include rosemary, thyme, bay, sage and winter savoury.

There are also native plants that can bring flavour to your garden year-round like lemon myrtle and Tasmanian mountain pepper.  Other favourites from our gardens include rock samphire (salty parsley flavour), and Mountain Chives (silver foliage and that great onion flavour). 
 
Herbs for colour
Don’t underestimate the value of foliage colour in the winter garden. When most flowering plants are devoid of blooms, it is foliage colour and structure that creates excitement in the garden.  Variegated herbs like Variegated Lemon Thyme, Variegated Sage and Applemint bring a burst of colour during the darker days of winter, while purple foliage plants like Purple Sage create a resting place for the eye and a contrast of colour.

Treat herbs as you would any other plant, using their structure and colour for maximum appeal. East Indian Lemongrass, for example, brings a vertical accent to the herb garden, as well as colour and flavour. 
 
Herbs for difficult sites
Many herbs are incredibly hardy, tolerating dry, coastal and windswept sites. Hanging rosemary is a great example.

Well established on the rock walls and roadsides of Sydney, it will do the same in your garden, whether you need to soften a retaining wall, hide an ugly fence or cover an unsightly slope.

It will root where it touches the soil, helping to stabilise a bank of soil in new and established gardens; and it’s incredibly tough too, growing with very little attention once established. Sage, thyme and mint are also reliable herbs for even the toughest sites. 
 
Plant in groups
When using herbs in the landscape, mass planting works best, creating a block of colour and ample produce for harvest without ruining your display. Work in groups of three or plant as low growing hedges.

Use groundcover herbs like thyme and marjoram as a living mulch to link various areas of the garden and save you time weeding.

There is much more to herbs than a little flavour. Yes, select herbs for their flavour, but don’t discount their aesthetic value too, especially when your garden needs a little boost of colour.