How do I take care of mint, lavendar, and rosemary plants in my garden?

Question

I moved into a house that has a garden out front. I don't know much about gardening, but would love to learn. This part of the house receives lots of sunlight. The garden is beginning to look overgrown and I need to tend to it, but I don't know how to prune or what to prune and what to do with the "harvested" herbs. Help!

Answer 1

very nice, detailed answer spitfire! I have all 3 and I do not do a thing to them but cut and dry the mint and rosemary.
the lavender I just let go and it gets NO water and it is thriving
The mint can also be cut fresh and put in some boiling water let sit for 10 min. after swishing it a few times, take out and sugar and you have the best tasting tea..even my 8 year old loves it..also got most our friends hooked onto it lol.
I also use the rosemay in bread that I make and I use it in a pasta salad that has all of the fresh herbs with some oil and a little salt and pepper all friends hooked on that also..grin
Sorry spit not trying to compete..just seems we always answer the same questions huh? Seems we have the same tastes in just about everything:)

Answer 2

Nice to get a garden with a house, huh? Anyhow, mint takes care of itself and is considered a weed by many because if it is in the ground it will take over and spread like wild fire. With the mint you will have to keep it in check by pulling often. You might look into interesting ways to use it. The Lavender is a little more fussy. The problem here is that you probably don't know if that lavender is used to being pruned, therefore, my suggestion is to not prune it or you might kill it. Water your lavender at the base once a week and it should continue nicely as it is. Rosemary is easy, however, if you have cold winters you will need to move it inside or replace it every year because one freeze will kill it. Water rosemary once a week as well. Hope this helps a little.
You can use fresh sprigs of mint in your tea or on top of desserts or you can dry it and use it as tea. Rosemary is good in meat dishes or stews and you can use it fresh or dried. Lavender is used for potpourri or mixed in soaps.

Answer 3

They say one can never get enough lavender. You can tie the flowers - on their long stems, with their leaves - in bunches and hang these upside down to dry. I hang my bunches up and down one long string which gets suspended at the side of a doorway - perfumes the house while they dry.

When dry, usually I leave mine for a few weeks, strip the flowers & leaves with your fingers. These can be used with tea, or for certain desserts, but the flavor is strong so a little goes a long way. The bulk of the dried flowers & leaves go into a sachet, a dainty little bag, fancy or plain, that you can sew easily. Or several sachets. These are for sweater or lingerie drawers or for linen closets. If you're really lucky and have a serious amount of flowers you can make a small lavender pillow. You wouldn't believe how fragrant these are. And they last for years.

There are different schools of thought about pruning lavender. Probably a good idea is to observe it for a year or two to get an idea of how it wants to be treated in your climate. Where I live, the lavender grows woody and shrubby, with new growth each spring emerging from the tips of long dead-looking woody growth if left unpruned. So I tend to prune part of each plant drastically in the fall, removing the oldest stalks right down to the crown, so as to encourage strong new growth from the crown of the plant the following spring.

Lavender is perhaps the most universal medicinal plant, good for whatever-ails-ya. It has antiseptic, antibiotic, even very mild anti-depressant properties. For a thousand years or more it has turned up everywhere, in waters, extracts, essential oils, perfumes, salves and creams.

Answer 4

Ohhh I'm jealous! Like the other respondee said - lucky to find a house that came with a garden!! Lavender - mmmm!!! No advice here - sounds like you got it!