Herbs How to restrain herbs from taking over the entire bed

[Grouchy Granny]

My oregano has gone completely and totally nuts. It has spread over half the herb bed and we can't seem to dig it out.

We're going to go ahead and spray the bed tomorrow (weather should be hot enough) to kill it off so we can dig out the remains.

My chives are in a pot that's sunk into the bed and I can pull that out without too many issues.

Any suggestions for future planting? Put it all in individual pots or ????????

Need help!

 

[mecoastie]

I haven't done it but I know a couple people that take a plastic barrel, cut the top and bottom and then cut them in half so you have short cyliders. THey then bury them in the garden with a couple inches sticking out of the ground. They plant the spreading herb in it and the roots cant get under the barrel. For small amounts they cut the bottom off a 5 gal bucket and bury it the same way.

 

[Grouchy Granny]

I haven't done it but I know a couple people that take a plastic barrel, cut the top and bottom and then cut them in half so you have short cyliders. THey then bury them in the garden with a couple inches sticking out of the ground. They plant the spreading herb in it and the roots cant get under the barrel. For small amounts they cut the bottom off a 5 gal bucket and bury it the same way.

Sounds like a good idea - maybe the 5 gal buckets will do the trick. This is what happens when you get side tracked for half a growing season (last year) and are trying to clean up the mess that didn't get attended to when it should have.

Also didn't realize that oregano would take over like it did. Learning experience for me.

 

[mecoastie]

OUr oregano is taking over in our yard. Smells great when you mow.

 

[Grouchy Granny]

OUr oregano is taking over in our yard. Smells great when you mow.

Well we're going to spray the entire bed tomorrow (not Roundup because it doesn't work and is too dangerous to use) with the HD Brand of spray which we found actually does kill the stuff. Might take 5 days but it's dead and stays dead!

I probably won't replant any of the herbs until next year when this crapola is over and I can get the plants I want.

 

[dioptase]

I learned about oregano the hard way, when it took over half of a raised bed of mine. I later learned that it is in the mint family, which I guess explains its invasiveness. It also self-sows; we've had oregano popping up elsewhere in the kitchen garden.

I decided to tear it out (I had help; we had to dig out that bed anyway because of redwood roots) since we don't use it all that much. Since I still have volunteers popping up here and there, I might POT some this summer. But never again am I going to put it into a raised bed, unless it is a SMALL well confined bed, solely devoted to the oregano.

(I haven't tried it but I don't really trust the sunken bottomless pot idea... methinks it would escape out the bottom and then climb back up into the bed. (I had mint growing out of the sides of my raised wooden bed devoted to mint, well below the soil level.) Maybe that sunken pot trick might work in areas where it winter kills, but I wouldn't trust it in our climate.)

 

[Dafodil]

plant it in clay pots.

 

[Grouchy Granny]

I'm in Colorado and we do get winter kill. The chives are in a plastic pot and have stayed contained.

Maybe I just won't put in more oregano next time around!

 

[hammerhead]

I have a golden oregano that spreads and spreads. I just pull it out.

But I am also considering putting more of my herbs into bottomless containers.

 

[TerriHaute]

I've had oregano for years and it has never been that invasive for me. It is growing in one corner of a raised bed and when it starts spreading too much, I yank out what I don't want. It must be a different variety than yours. My peppermint doesn't spread a whole lot either, I actually wish it would as I like to dry it for tea. The herbs I have the most trouble containing are lemon balm and garlic chives. Both have gone nuts. I pull them out like weeds and they come back and spread like crazy. Comfrey too.

 

[kyrsyan]

I guess I'm weird. I plan for herbs to take over, with a few exceptions. I'm kind of disappointed when they don't. I plant them as groundcover in many places. I have an oregano that has taken over a chunk of a backyard plot that gets poor sunlight. I actually keep everything else weeded out. Then I pick 4 or 5 times a year and fill the dehydrator. It keeps my spice cabinet stock. And I use the thicker stems as skewers on the grill.
This year I have an abundant variety of mints, thyme, marjoram, and others to put in place as groundcover in a variety of areas. The lawn mower will control any excess spread if needed. I will have lots of fresh and dried herbs for the kitchen.
And I'm debating a few nonspreaders, like rosemary, to go in around the culvert/ditch at the end of the driveway.

 

[dioptase]

Our garlic chives seems to be spreading by seed (because I have been a slacker the past couple of years and tardy in deadheading). Otherwise, not so much - but then again, that bed has some tree root competition.