Pot Up Garden Herbs for a Winter Windowsill Before the First Frost
- Hands on
- 40 min
- Season
- autumn
- Level
- easy
- Makes
- four potted herb clumps for a winter windowsill
Once the first frost hits, soft top growth on chives, mint, marjoram and parsley collapses and stays that way until spring. Lifting a clump of each now, splitting it and potting it up gives you a windowsill's worth of fresh herbs through the darker months, for the cost of a bag of compost and half an hour outside.
What you need
Step by step
-
Cut back straggly top growth on each herb clump with secateurs, leaving a few centimetres of stem so you can still see what you're lifting.
10 min -
Dig around each clump with a hand fork or trowel, keeping 10-15cm of rootball intact, and lift it clear of the bed.
10 min -
Split congested clumps into smaller sections — mint and marjoram pull apart by hand, while tougher chive and parsley crowns may need slicing through with an old knife on a firm surface.
5 min -
Line the bottom of each pot with a handful of broken pot pieces or crocks so the drainage hole doesn't clog with compost.
5 min -
Pot each division into its own container with peat-free multi-purpose compost, firming gently around the roots, and water well until it runs from the base.
5 min -
Stand the pots on saucers in a sheltered spot outside for a few days to settle before moving them to their winter windowsill.
5 min
Afterwards
Wash and dry secateurs and any knife used for dividing before putting them away, so sap doesn't dull the blade overnight. Wipe pots clean of spilled compost, and check each one after a week — water only when the top inch of compost is dry, and snip off any leaves that yellow or wilt so the plant puts its energy into new growth.
Questions
Which herbs are worth lifting and potting, and which aren't?
Hardy perennials like chives, mint, oregano/marjoram and parsley cope well with being lifted and divided. Woody Mediterranean herbs like rosemary and bay are better left in the ground or moved as an established potted plant, since bare-rooting them checks their growth badly.
Do the pots need to sit outside before coming indoors?
It's not essential — you can move them straight to a windowsill once potted — but a few sheltered days outside first lets them settle without the shock of dry central heating.
Why has the mint gone limp since I brought it in?
A few days of wilting after lifting is normal transplant shock. Keep the compost just moist, keep it out of direct heat from a radiator, and it should recover within a week.
Can I just use garden soil instead of buying compost?
Garden soil compacts hard in a pot and drains poorly indoors. A peat-free multi-purpose compost is cheap and the herbs will do far better in it.