Herbs Throughout the Year // April
/Whether you grow your herbs or enjoy those growing on their own out in the wild, April is a busy and exciting month. Native plants are thriving, days are getting longer, the soil is warming up… the growing season has begun!
And if you’re new to it - this is a great time to get started, so your understanding of how plants work can grow alongside them in the coming months.
HARVEST
If you currently have access to any green spaces, you’ll surely be able to find a number of wild herbs growing in abundance:
Now it is the time for Hawthorn flowers and leaf tips, young Raspberry and Blackberry leaves, Mallow leaves, Alexanders stems and leaf tips, Garlic mustard tops, Three-cornered Leek greens, Violets and Bittercresses, just to name a few!
Check our Virtual Herb Walk posts for more info and inspiration.
MAKE
If you generally suffer from seasonal allergies, make your own allergy-relief tea blend! A lot of the herbs that are abundant at the moment, including stinging nettles, plantain and rosemary, can be very useful in minimizing and offering relief to hayfever and other seasonal allergies. Use the fresh herbs or dry for use throughout spring and summer.
Make a beautiful Sweet Violet Flower Syrup. It’s fun, pretty, delicious AND amazing medicine, all in one.
IN THE GARDEN
Now it is a good time to plant out potted young perennials like rosemary, lemon balm and oregano, in small pots. This will give them time to get well established and be pretty productive in the coming season.
Keep on top of weeds. Annual weeds are germinating everywhere and any roots of perennials left in the soil will be eager to grow right now.
Divide primroses once they have finished flowering.
If you haven’t yet, also divide overgrown perennials of herbs such as mints, echinacea, bergamot, lady’s mantle and yarrow. Dividing will improve their longevity, overall health and appearance, while also creating more plants that you can plant out in other areas or give away to friends.
Now is also a good time to prune lavenders and other evergreens such as rosemary and sage, which will encourage fresh, lush new growth, but avoid cutting into old wood, as this may have the opposite effect.
SOW
Herbs like Rosemary, Lemon balm and Sage are very easy to grow from cuttings, so that method is often preferred over seeds, but if you want to grow them from seeds, now is a good time to get them going. Sow them indoors and wait until the plantlets are big enough to transplant outside.
Start other warmth-loving herbs like Basil and Shiso indoors as well.
Herbs such as Chives, Spring Onions, Coriander, Dill and Parsley and flowers like Calendula, Nasturtium, Borage, Poppies and Violets can also be started indoors, or go directly into the ground outside.
Direct sow wildflower seed mixtures. Not only they are gorgeous, but also provide food and habitat for an array of little garden friends, including bees and butterflies.
For more inspiration come along to one of our Growing Your Own Herbs workshops.
