Plants in 'The herb garden: small is beautiful' scheme

An easily grown and pretty herb with long, hollow leaves - used as a garnish for soups, salads, egg dishes and sauces. The flowers can also be eaten. Chives can be cut down to ground level after blooming, and this will encourage them to reflower. Buy a few plants so as not to wear out any one plant. Great in containers in a sunny spot. Chive plants are often used as an edging plant in vegetable gardens. Small, 9cms container.

A tall, very airy herb with grean, feathery foliage, which produces flat flowerheads of yellow flowers in summer. Grow in poor, dry sunny soil, and cut down to the ground during the winter. All parts are edible. Tastes as good as it looks. Culinary uses with fish, pork, salads and barbecues. Small 9 cms pot.

These mature bay laurel plants are ideal for a smart and instant evergreen hedge. These  bay laurel plants are specifically grown to be an 'instant' hedge. Placed side by side, they make an instant dark green hedge which is smart and nicely upright. They can be clipped to the desired height, and this will encourage them to bush out further. Bay laurel prefers a sunny, fertile, well-drained site, and once established are very drought tolerant and completely cold-hardy. Care should be taken to keep plants well-watered and fed when establishing - consider using a soaker hose for guaranteed watering. A mulch of bark or Gee-up soil improver is a great aid in terms of getting them off to a good start, or feed with chicken manure fertiliser when planting. A very popular fast-growing evergreen screen which can be seen in many parts of Dublin, where it grows well against railings and provides a very smart hedge. For this type of hedge, plant 2-4 plants per metre, depending on how instantly dense you want it. Please click on the image on the right to see exactly what the plants look like. Nice tall specimens, 175 - 200 cms tall.

One of the essential cooking plants for Mediteranean foods. This perennial herb is very like Oregano but less woody and with a slightly milder flavour - it should be part of any herb garden. Great in pots with a compost / gravel mix, or in a sunny site with very well-drained, even stony soil. Grows well when mulched with gravel. The purple-pink flowers in summer are very ornamental and particularly attractive to bees. Smaller 9 cms pot.

A small evergreen shrub whose scented foliage is a staple of Mediterranean cooking and an essential ingredient in many dishes. An Irish saying says that a Rosemary bush planted by the front door of a house shows that there is a 'strong woman' looking ater things inside. It is important that it is in a sunny spot in well-drained, fertile soil - plants in west soil have not done well over the last couple of years. Rosemary can be clipped once or twice a year to keep it at whatever size is required. Makes an unusual low hedge which releases its aroma when brushed against. Has small but attractive blue flowers in summer. Medicinally used to treat headaches, depression and migraines. Lovely bushy irish-grown plants in a 3L container. More images.....