Kitchen herbs in the bed: dill, coriander, marjoram, tarragon, lovage

These five herbs cover a lot of cooking – from cucumber salad to curries to potato soup. Their needs are very different.

Dill

• Annual, sow directly from spring; does not transplant well
• Sow again every few weeks and you will have fresh leaves all summer
• Pick leaves continuously; flower umbels and seeds are popular for pickling cucumbers

Coriander

• Annual, quickly bolts in heat and long days – so sow early in the year or in late summer, and sow again
• You harvest the fresh leaves and later the ripe seeds, which taste completely different as a spice

Marjoram

• Needs warmth and sun; usually grown as an annual, sown after the frosts or started on the windowsill
• Harvest shortly before or at the start of flowering
• Classic with potatoes, pulses and sausages

Tarragon

• Perennial, comes back every year
• For cooking, French tarragon is usually used, propagated by cuttings or division; Russian tarragon grown from seed tastes much milder
• Goes well with eggs, fish, chicken and in herb vinegar

Lovage

• Large perennial, known in German as "Maggikraut" – one plant is enough for a family
• Use young leaves and shoots sparingly, the flavour is strong

Keeping fresh and preserving

• According to the BZfE, fresh herbs wrapped in a damp cloth or bag keep for a few days in the vegetable drawer
• According to the BZfE, chopped herbs can be frozen in ice cube trays
• Herb oil has its own rules – see the article "Making herb oil and herb vinegar"

Sources

• German Federal Centre for Nutrition (BZfE): How-to: Kräuter, as of 31 Mar 2025, accessed 5 Oct 2026

The sources support individual statements in this article. The organisations named have neither reviewed nor endorsed it.