'Essential' herbs - what would you include in a herb garden?

After removing a massive clump of fennel from the corner of my veggie plot ( I can't stand the stuff!), my little herb garden now consists of mint, rosemary, lemon thyme and parsley. Earlier in the summer we had basil and coriander as well. Coriander is probably my favourite herb, but it's such a pain to grow... mine always bolts before it gets to any sort of decent size

What would you consider to be 'essential' herbs for a kitchen garden?

id say you had it right already tracie.

if you keep your coriander and basil inside though, you can have it all year round.

speaking of coriander, there was entire page devoted to it in todays metro along with growing tips.

unfortunately, i left mine on the tram coz id finshed with it- sorry!

sophie

x

Marjeram, Sage and Chives are easy to grow and good to use.

Garlic to is quite easy.

hazel

I would add chives and rosemary.

The difference between dried bay leaves and fresh is huge, so I'd add a bay tree in a lovely big pot to every herb garden, and I really like fresh oregano too.

Borage, traditionally used for ''courage'' dating back to Roman times.

It's supposed to boost your Ooomph! but I've not tried it myself

Not sure if it helps, but I have;

lavender (lots), thyme( 3 or 4 diff types), mint, lemon balm, chives, purple sage, fennel and bronze fennel, curry plant, marjoram, oregano, rosemary, parsley.

I'll be adding garlic and one or 2 others when I can.

oh, yes.

non culinary stuff includes; comfrey, camphor-scented southernwood, veronica prostrata and sweet woodruff (last 2 as ground cover).

Great suggestions, thanks everyone! I like the idea of adding chives - I think we'd use those a lot. The same goes for oregano. I did had a go at growing some garlic this year, but I planted it a bit late so it didn't do very well. I know it likes to overwinter, so I'll try again this autumn.

Medusa - we have a huge bay tree in our garden! The fresh leaves smell gorgeous. I haven't really had the opportunity to use them much yet, but as the nights drawn in and the weather gets colder... casseroles!

I'll give the basil and coriander a try indoors, be interesting to see if helps to stop the coriander from bolting. The basil we grew earlier in the summer did fine outside under glass (I had jars and jars of pesto to show for it!) but I still struggled with the coriander

Just had a look at borage on t'internet - I recognise the name, but know little about the plant. It looks very pretty (lovely purple star shaped flowers) and luckily for me, it also likes a nice sunny spot, so it'll be perfect for my herb garden

Another one you could add purely for decoration and the fabulous smell is bergamot. It has the most exquisite flowers and will fill up any sunny gap with lush green foliage (and is conveniently almost indestructible too).