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HERBS IN THE LANDSCAPE

There is no rule saying that herbs must be grown only in formal gardens, or that they must be set off from the rest of the landscape. Tradition seems to have disassociated herbs from other ornamental garden plants and modern landscape designs, but most herbs are really free-wheeling plants that can be used in many ways in the landscape.

Some herbs, such as the santolinas, grow dense and compact, just right for tucking into corners or filling open spaces between other plants. Low creeping herbs such as the ground cover thymes, mints, and sweet woodruff can be used to cover small areas, and to grow over hard structural lines or pavement edges. Or, they can be used alone or with other plants as a ground cover over large areas.

Interplanted with other perennials in a border, herbs can create interesting patterns and textures. Shrubby herbs such as tansy and borage can be interplanted with woody ornamentals and perennials. Lemon verbena, the taller varieties of rosemary, bush germander, and other tall herbs are good background plants in flower borders, and can be planted against fences to give some texture to their flat surfaces. Many of the culinary herbs such as parsley, dwarf sage, winter savory, and chives can be low edgings and foreground plantings in front of taller perennials.

Herbs can also provide bright spots of color in the landscape. Yarrows, tansy, purple basil, and lavender make colorful plantings, and there is a wide variety of gray foliaged herbs such as artemisias and santolina which can be used as landscape highlights, foils for colorful flowers, or to moderate the greens of other plants.

Herbs can grow between paving stones of a patio, or in hard to fill spaces between a wall and walk. One of the advantages of planting herbs in areas such as these is that they are tough and usually require only a little care.

Aggressive, rambling herbs such as catnip, some of the mints, and lemon balm are usually too wild and spreading for a formal or tidy garden, but are perfect in more informal gardens where they can wander freely among other plants, softening transitions and filling in empty spaces.

Other herbs are compact and have a distinguished, neat appearance. Many of the santolinas and the germanders can be clipped and shaped. Other herbs such as trailing rosemary will soften the lines of a garden when trained to spill over walls or flow gracefully between other plants.

Several herbs are at home in woodsy landscapes. Chervil and sweet Cicely like shade or sun-filtered shade, and their fernlike foliage goes well as a background for other ferny woodland plants. Sweet woodruff and the mints spread along the ground and make good fillers in shady gardens.

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