Should I prune my herbs?

[lily]

Some of you may remember at the beginning of the year I stuck a photo of the beginnings of my herb patch.

Well, they all grew well and now I have rosemary (about 3 ft across x 2 ft high), oregano (about 3 ft across), sage, (about 2 ft across) and thyme (somewhat bigger than a football).

All are looking really well.

I think they will last over the winter, but should I prune them (or chop them to death!) now or just leave them get on with it?

Thanks in advance.

xxx

[Tigger]

I have rosemary (currently in bloom too!) in my garden and will be just leaving it to sort itself out over the winter as it tends to manage OK in the cold weather.

It might be an idea to harvest some of each herb, give it a good wash, and bung in freezer bags so you have nice fresh herbs ready to use over the cold months ahead.

I tend to give the oregano a good cut as it replenishes itself like billyo in the borders!

[faeryboots]

Most of the herbs, if left to themselves will be okay, having said that, some sage can be prone to frost so be careful. My rosemary, one of which is in bloom again, like Tigger's usually just gets on with it. Chives seed themselves a fair bit and Thyme can be quite hardy.

[carlott]

Good idea Tigger - will Sage be OK treated like that? As you say the Rosemary usually survives as will thyme (well our does.

[Tigger]

Sage won't grow back from very woody stems in my experience, so don't cut back too far. Also, if the plant is relatively well established it should be OK left to do its own thing over the winter.

Just take some leaves off as I suggested, wash and freeze them (never dry sage the smell becomes something reminiscent of a teenage boy's fermented sock drawer )

[carlott]

Thanks Tigger. We do cut it back now again when it gets too leggy and it seems to thrive on it.

[Fi]

The only one I'd prune is thyme. It can get very leggy. When that happens the best remedy is to dig it up and replant it deeper, so that the legs are buried. Pruning is much simpler. Come to think of it, sage is the same, but it freely seeds itself, so when it gets too woody there are always lots of smaller plants to grow in its place. I only prune rosemary if its shape needs improving.

[meltemi]

Yep keep the thyme close clipped. leave the rest to over-winter. Next spring cut the sage , oregano & marjoram almost to the ground...lots of new shoots that way. In early summer almost denude the rosemary for use it on the barbeque smells heavenly, take it down to a short stump..it will recover and grow a profusion of new shoots . Better still have at least two of them & alternate the treatment!

[lemanie]

i pruned my rosemary this year and it's come back fine and just as big. Next year it will get another hard prune but for another reason, it's going to be some of the greenery in my wedding flowers.