oregano taking over!!!

[freshfood]

I have an oregano plant that I was given three years ago. It was a shovel-ful, dug from another garden. I plopped it into my herb garden, all the way at one end. Now it's taking over. I find oregano not only popping up in the herbs next to it, but also three and four feet away, on the far side of the chives. Two years ago I dug a shovel-ful for a friend. Last year I dug up two shovel-fuls to give away, both times shrinking my own plant by more than half. Each spring, you'd never know any had been dug up. Eeek - I'm running out of friends to give oregano to - how do I keep it in its place??

PS - my DH's ex-wife gave me the original planting - did she know this would happen??!!

 

[DrakeMaiden]

One way to control the spread would be to make sure you cut off the flowers before they go to seed. If you are more concerned about it expanding vegetatively, you could try to keep it in a pot in the ground or use some other type of underground barrier.

I don't consider herbs to be invasive, as I don't think I can ever have enough.

Have you tried drying the oregano for use in the winter? We use so much in our house that I'm always afraid I'm going to run out before spring. You could give dried oregano away as gifts . . . .

 

[vfem]

Oh yes, dig it up and pot some to give as gifts!!! Think about it... easy creative earth friendly gift! Save you money on Mother's day, Birthdays, ect!!!

Again, it sounds like the issue is that the oregano kept going to seed. Pinch the flowers! I have to do that with my basil constantly so it doesn't reseed!

 

[freshfood]

I think it's spreading by runners, or when stems rest on the dirt, they root themselves and grow. I hate to cut off all the flowers because the bees love them. Can I let it flower but cut them before they go to seed? :tools

I've been trying to give away shovelfuls - everyone I can find who wants it, has some now. I don't have much luck drying it, as my house is extremely dusty and by the time it's dry, it's covered in dust. I tried cheesecloth over it but the dry herbs stuck to the cheesecloth and it was hard to detatch the herbs without creating a shower of dust in the process.

I've resorted to freezing my herbs, which isn't the best way to give it as gifts! Does anyone have suggestions for keeping it clean while it dries?

Does anyone want some oregano??!!

 

[bid]

Check out this thread:
http://www.theeasygarden.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=25341

Describes a method to keep your herbs dust free!

 

[Ridgerunner]

Oregano is not nearly as invasive as mint, but it will spread. To me a weed is any plant where I don't want it. Sometimes I relocate a weed and it becomes a good plant. Sometimes I add it to the compost heap and sometimes it just goes on the grass where it will regularly be mowed if it has the audacity to try to grow.

I understand the desire to use everything you grow. Waste not, want not. My wife has those urges. I have no problem putting some things on the compost heap. No way can I keep up with cukes, summer squash, even okra. They need to be removed so the plant continues to produce. But then I have been called ruthless, even by good friends.

 

[DrakeMaiden]

OK, so the thread that bid linked to mentioned you can oven dry herbs, which sounds reasonable to me, although energy intensive.

If you have a room where there is very little activity, a fairly stable temperature and low humidity (a guest bathroom that isn't regularly used, for instance) that would be a great place to dry your herbs. I have found that a lot of the dust in my own home comes from machine dried laundry, especially sheets, so bedrooms tend to be hot-spots for dust. I have dried herbs in an unheated basement in the summer with no problems.

As far as cutting the flowers, I totally agree with you and I leave mine for the bees too. You could wait until just before they start to set seed to cut them, or you could be more cautious about weeding any new starts in the early spring, but if it is mostly a vegetative spreading problem, then the best bet is to plant it in a container and put that in the ground. Then once a year you could pop the container out of the ground and make sure the oregano isn't trying to spread from the bottom.

 

[momofdrew]

16 years ago I bought a nice little oregano plant at Walmarts by the following spring I had hundreds all over the place I moved it 2 years later to a special L shaped corner of my house where nothing else is growing BUT I am still finding oregano 60 feet away in my garden proper if you dont get all the roots it will spread if the little plant over there that you over looked is let to go to seed it will spread...I love oregano BUT...it is invasive

 

[Catalina]

Huh - I haven't found an oregano yet that was winter hardy here. I have to bring mine inside every winter. Not much chance of it spreading!

 

[DrakeMaiden]

I only brought one oregano plant with me when I moved (or so I thought), but the seeds keep sprouting from the pots of other plants I brought with me and from my compost. I consider them volunteers and I keep the ones I want and just weed out the rest. I guess the classification of "invasive" or "volunteer" is a matter of perspective. In my estimation, an edible volunteer is a good thing!