You don't say what zone you are in. Borage is probably an annual. And given time the mint will take over leaving no space for you to plant the borage.

Thyme and savory are very low growing and will work well along the ground. Tarragon gets very tall. If you are looking for this for astetic purposes thats ok, but it will not fit in with the thyme there.

Lemon balm is in the mint family and will do fine with the other mints.

Again depending on your zone rosemary, thyme may not be perennials either.

Thanks for the feedback. I'm in the south of Germany, 1 1/2 hours away from Munich. I'm an American veeery far away from home! lol

All the herbs I mentioned, we got as plants from the nursery - would the borage survive the mints in this case? or should I just let the mints all hang out together? Lemon balm allegedly should be in full sun - would it be ok in this (partial shade) area?

Thanks again to everyone - I've been getting lots of help from reading up on this forum!

Yael

I would consult the locals on what will come through a Bavarian Winter. It can get pretty cold. Rosemary might not come through especially if exposed at the top of your pyramid. Also do you realise how big it can get? Depending on the orientation of your beds it could shade out the whole thing. Nor would I put lemon balm in the top tier. It is a thug and will self seed and spread over the other things. Chives will be perennial but dill, cilantro and basil will need replanting annually. Personally I would put borage elsewhere. It is a big floppy plant that is on a different scale to most of your other plants and it also self - seeds. I would have some parsley in there. It is far more useful than borage. I could use parsley every day but borage only a few times a year. Viel spass! Flora

I'd recommend keeping the mint in heavy pots that have bottoms. Mint will escape from an open-bottomed pot. Be sure that the pot is greater than 12" deep and has small drainage holes at the very bottom. The first time I made my herb sundial I planted the mints in large terra cotta pots that I put into the ground. They looked great for a year or so and then the weather disintegrated the clay pots and the mints escaped. Now they're in heavy gauge plastic.

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Lemon Balm is in the mint family as well and spread as such. I agree with the closed-bottom pot. I overwintered a mint plant in my garden several years ago before I knew better, and I am still battling it every spring/summer. Put these in pots.

Also, I heard somewhere that if Mints are planted in the same pot, they will start to taste more like each other. I can only assume that would happen if they're next to each other in the same bed as well. Not sure about this, but something to think about. Maybe separate them a little?

Thyme is low and creeping, even the regular garden thyme doesn't get very tall. Parsley is a good suggestion, I use it a lot as well. Oregano perhaps, although it also spreads a lot and can take over a garden.

What about lavender? It tends to like mediterranean type conditions.

Thanks for all the help! I will definitely take the tips, although I do have parsley elsewhere in the garden. I can use it lots too.

To "granite" who posted the pic, what is that great groundcover with purple flowers?

Thanks,

Yael

YES. The groundcover is beautiful! What is it? Also, I'm having trouble getting chives off to a good start in my garden. Why is that?

Chives like a well trained soil and don't seem to like a full sun exposure all day. I grow a wild onion (just recently found this out), that is just now forming small bubil clusters at the tips of stiff stalks. Mine grows all through winter and in the summer months only the bulbil clusters are activing growing. I pluck all of these off once they have formed and crumble them ito the nearby soil around the rest of them. They will then die out in mid August, but start back up in late September and all through the winter months in Z6. These are quite hardy and when I pull up the bulbs in the soil they are about the size of a garden pea. The greens are great while they last, but the stiff stalks are tough as they must support the bulb clusters which are about the size of a large marble. Mine have no real flowers per se, but will have maybe one of two on each bulbil cluster. These tiny bulbs are tan color, and the edible greens are exactly the same size as a regular chive. Last year I sent out several of these to people who asked for some, as they can grow very well in cooler climates all the way to Z8.

That ground cover with purple flowers looks very much like creeping phlox. I have it draped over the stone wall in front of my house and its blossoms last only a few weeks in early May to early June.