Growing Herbs in Pots by the Kitchen Door

Why the Kitchen Door Beats the Raised Bed

Most herbs fail for one simple reason: they are planted too far from the kitchen. A beautiful row of parsley at the far end of the plot is lovely in June and forgotten by August, when the slugs have had their way and you cannot face the walk in the rain just for a garnish. Put the same plant in a decent pot two steps from the back door and it gets picked three times a week, watered while the kettle boils, and snipped into the pan before the onions catch.

That proximity matters even more in small gardens, where every square metre is doing two jobs. A pot by the door is not really taking up growing space at all — it is occupying a corner that was only ever going to collect leaves and a stray watering can. Group four or five containers on a paved edge, a doorstep or a balcony ledge and you have a working herb garden within arm's reach.

The Four That Earn Their Keep

Start with the reliable quartet, because between them they cover most of what a British kitchen actually asks for.

• Basil — tender, fast, and hopeless outdoors before late May. Grow it in a pot you can move, keep it out of cold wind, and pinch out the growing tips every fortnight. One plant per 20cm pot will out-produce three crammed together.
• Parsley — flat-leaved for cooking, curly for looks. It is a biennial that runs to seed in its second year, so sow fresh each spring rather than coaxing an old plant along. It needs a deep pot: a 30cm taproot does not enjoy a shallow bowl.
• Mint — always in its own pot, never shared. It spreads by underground runners and will colonise anything it is planted beside. Spearmint suits sauces and tea; Moroccan mint is worth the extra search.
• Chives — the hardest working of the four, hardy, happy in partial shade, and cut-and-come-again from March to October. Snip to 5cm above the compost and they will throw new growth within a fortnight.

Add thyme or rosemary later if you have a sunny, sheltered spot, but be honest about the conditions. Mediterranean herbs sulk in damp shade and no amount of kindness will change their minds.

Choosing Containers and Compost

Go bigger than instinct suggests. A 30cm-diameter pot holds enough compost to buffer a hot afternoon and a missed watering; a 15cm pot does not, and its occupant will bolt to seed in July. Terracotta looks well and dries out faster; glazed or plastic holds moisture longer. Whatever you choose, it must have drainage holes — herbs rot at the crown faster than almost anything else.

Use a peat-free multipurpose compost with a handful of grit or perlite mixed through for drainage. Do not be tempted to reuse last year's compost from a tomato pot: it is exhausted and may carry vine weevil. Fresh compost each spring is the cheapest insurance you can buy.

Raise the pots slightly on feet or broken tiles so water drains freely, and stand the whole group where rain off the roof will not waterlog them. A south- or west-facing wall gives warmth and reflected light, which basil in particular will repay handsomely.

Watering, Feeding and the Summer Curse

From June to August, a pot by a sunny wall may need water twice a day. Check by pushing a finger into the top 2cm of compost — if it is dry, water until it runs from the base. Morning watering is better than evening, as it gives foliage time to dry before the slugs arrive.

Feed every fortnight with a liquid tomato feed once plants are established. Herbs grown for leaf want nitrogen; herbs grown in pots still need the potassium boost to keep going. Stop feeding mint and chives by early September so they can harden off before winter.

The main summer curse, though, is bolting. Basil, parsley and coriander all rush to flower when stressed by heat or drought. Keep picking — flowering is the plant deciding it has finished making leaves. If a stem does run up, pinch it out at the base and use the leaves straight away.

The Shed, the Allotment and the In-Between

If you are lucky enough to have a potting shed or an allotment retreat, the kitchen-door pots are still worth keeping. A shed is for seed trays, tools and a mug of tea out of the wind; the pots by the back door are for eating. Many allotment holders run both — the plot for gluts, courgettes and potatoes, the doorstep for the herbs that need a daily glance.

In a small garden, a shed can double as a shelter wall for herbs that dislike wind. Put a shelf or two on the sunny side, stand pots against it, and you have created a microclimate in a metre of space. Sheltering a pelargonium-scented leaf or a lemon verbena that way can buy you a fortnight at each end of the season.

Winter and the Following Year

Chives and mint die back and return; parsley may hold through a mild winter; basil will not. Bring a basil plant indoors in September and it will give you a few more weeks on a bright windowsill, but expect it to fade by November — that is normal, not failure. Mint and chives can be lifted, divided and repotted in early spring, which keeps them vigorous and doubles your stock for free.

Clean pots in February with hot soapy water, refill with fresh compost, and start again. Sow a few seeds in April for succession, buy a supermarket pot of basil in May to cheat a head start, and by the time the first tomatoes ripen you will have everything you need two steps from the chopping board.