Grow Your Own Herbs: The Beginner’s Guide for UK Windowsills and Gardens

Garden Basics

Which herbs to start with

Start with the five that forgive beginner mistakes: basil, parsley, chives, mint and rosemary. Basil wants warmth and a sunny sill — direct sow or buy a supermarket pot and split it into two or three, which usually revives leggy growth. Parsley is slower from seed (soaking overnight speeds germination up) but keeps cropping for months once established. Chives are close to indestructible — plant once and they come back every spring, and the purple flowers are edible too. Mint should almost always go in its own pot; planted in open ground or shared containers it runs and takes over everything nearby. Rosemary is the one exception here — better bought as a small plant than grown from seed, since germination is slow and unreliable, while a young plant establishes in weeks.

Windowsill or garden?

A south- or west-facing windowsill is enough for basil, parsley and chives, provided it gets at least four hours of direct light a day. Mint, rosemary and thyme tend to do better outside in a pot or open ground, where light is more consistent and they don’t mind being left for a few days. If you’re growing outdoors, position pots somewhere sheltered from wind — herbs in exposed spots dry out fast and growth checks. A cluster of pots by the back door keeps the herbs you cook with within easy reach; hardier ones can go further out, where they need less fuss.

Watering, and the most common mistake

Overwatering kills more windowsill herbs than anything else — the same warning repeated in the shopping list below. Compost should dry out slightly between waterings; check with a finger before topping up rather than watering to a schedule. Terracotta pots help because they let excess moisture evaporate through the sides, whereas plastic holds water longer and is easier to overdo. Drainage matters more than the pot material, though: make sure there’s a hole in the bottom and something underneath — a few stones or broken crock — to stop it clogging.

Keeping herbs productive

Regular harvesting keeps most herbs producing rather than running to flower. Pinch basil out above a leaf pair rather than stripping leaves from the top, which encourages the plant to bush out. Snip chives close to the base with scissors and they regrow within a couple of weeks. Once mint or basil flowers, growth slows and the leaves can turn bitter — pinch off flower buds as soon as you see them if you want to keep cropping through summer.

What to skip growing from seed

Some herbs are cheaper bought as small plants than raised from seed, particularly for a first attempt: rosemary, thyme and bay are all slow and unreliable from seed but establish quickly from a young plant. Save seed-starting for the ones that are genuinely easy and fast — basil, coriander and parsley all germinate reliably within a couple of weeks on a warm windowsill.