Why pots earn their place on a small patio

A patio of two or three square metres can still supply you with fresh herbs from late spring right through to the first hard frost. Pots let you chase the sun around the space, move plants out of the way when you need the table back, and give each herb the compost it actually wants rather than forcing everything into the same border. Mint will romp through open ground and smother its neighbours, but in a pot it behaves itself. Rosemary, which sulks in heavy, wet soil, thrives when its roots are kept on the dry side. Treat every pot as a small, self-contained growing space with its own rules, and the whole thing becomes far easier to manage.

The other advantage is height. On a cramped patio, floor space runs out long before wall space does. A couple of pots raised on a low bench or a sturdy wooden crate bring the herbs closer to your hands and lift them into better light, which matters more than most people realise on a north-facing or part-shaded yard.

Picking herbs for a sunny, sheltered spot

Most patios are warm, bright and protected from wind, which suits the Mediterranean herbs best. Three will cover a surprising amount of cooking:

• Rosemary — an upright bush or a trailing variety for the top of a wall. It wants full sun and sharp drainage, and it will happily live in the same pot for several years. Pick a compact cultivar if space is tight, as the ordinary species can reach a metre or more.
• Thyme — common thyme, lemon thyme or a golden-leaved form. Low, spreading and tolerant of neglect, it is ideal for a shallow bowl at the front of a group. It prefers poorer compost than rosemary, so go easy on the feeding.
• Mint — spearmint for sauces, Moroccan mint for tea. Always give it a pot of its own, because its runners will invade anything sharing its space. It is the one herb here that enjoys a richer, moister compost and a little shade at midday.

If you have room for a fourth, add flat-leaved parsley or chives. Both cope with a slightly richer mix and give you something to cut through the winter months.

Compost and drainage: the bit most people rush

Fill your pots with a soil-based potting compost rather than a bargain multi-purpose, which collapses and dries out unevenly by midsummer. A soil-based mix holds its structure and its moisture far better over a long season. For rosemary and thyme, mix in horticultural grit at roughly one part grit to four parts compost, and put a generous layer of crocks or gravel in the base of the pot.

Terracotta is the traditional choice and looks well on a patio, but it dries out quickly in sun. Glazed pots hold moisture for longer and are a kinder option if you are out at work all day. Whatever you choose, make sure the drainage hole is clear and the pot stands on feet or bricks so water can escape freely. A saucer left full of water will rot rosemary roots faster than almost anything else.

Watering: check before you pour

Small pots in a sunny corner dry out surprisingly fast, so plan on watering most days in high summer and twice on very hot ones. Water in the morning where you can, so the compost has moisture to draw on through the heat of the day, and water until it runs out of the base rather than giving a quick sprinkle.

Test before you water by pushing a finger two or three centimetres into the compost, or simply by lifting the pot — a dry pot is startlingly light. Thyme and rosemary would rather be slightly dry than soaked, so let them almost dry out between waterings. Mint is the opposite and will wilt dramatically if you forget it, though it usually recovers within an hour of a good drink. Feed mint and parsley every fortnight with a liquid tomato feed; rosemary and thyme need very little, and too much richness makes them soft and leggy.

Cutting often keeps everything bushy

Regular picking is the single best thing you can do for flavour and for the shape of the plant. Left alone, most herbs shoot upwards and go woody at the base.

• Pinch out the growing tips of mint and thyme every week or so, taking the top pair of leaves with your thumb and forefinger. This forces sideshoots and doubles your crop.
• With rosemary, cut short sprigs from the tips rather than hacking into old, bare wood, which rarely regrows. Never take more than a third of the plant at once.
• Snip thyme just above a leaf joint so the cut is hidden by new growth.
• Take mint right down to a leaf pair about five centimetres from the compost if it starts to look tired — it will bounce back within a fortnight.

Harvest in the morning, after the dew has dried but before the sun gets strong, when the oils are at their most concentrated.

Seeing them through the winter

Rosemary and thyme are hardy enough to stay outside in most of the UK, but their enemy is wet roots rather than cold. Move their pots against a sheltered wall, raise them onto feet and cut back on watering to perhaps once a fortnight. Mint dies down completely and reappears in spring; leave the compost almost dry while it sleeps. Come February, top-dress each pot with a couple of centimetres of fresh compost and you will have another generous season from the same small, sunny patch.