Growing Chives

A member of the onion family, chives are well worth cultivating in the vegetable and flower garden. They take up very little space, and the whole plant can be eaten from top to bottom - the bulbs as mild onions, the leaves in salads and flavouring, the flower heads as a splash of colour to salads. If the flower heads are not removed, they are ideal as a decorative edging to a flower border with freely produced purple flowers.

A less common variety is Chinese chive which has a delicate hint of garlic in the leaves - these too produce flowers although not so many - they are white and appear in late summer.

Chives will grow in almost all soils, the ideal one being well-dug with the addition of well-rotted compost or organic material. Work in a handful or two of bonemeal per sq. m (sq. yd)). Chives are not greedy feeders, so it is not necessary to feed throughout the year if the soil has been prepared as described. Full sun or partial shade suit them equally well, and although they are fairly tolerant of drought, don't plant them in very dry places.

Propagating Chives

Chives are very similar to onions, they have a bulbous root and green leaves. The bulbs multiply quickly over a few years and this provides the easiest method of propagation. Simply dig up the clump of bulbs in March or October, carefully separate them into individual bulbs and replant with the tips of the bulbs level with the soil surface. They thrive on this method of propagation, because it relieves the congestion in the bulbs.

Growing chives from seed is almost as easy - sow the seeds indoors using normal potting compost in March time (or directly outside in April). Make sure the compost remains moist. The seedlings will appear a week to ten days later. Transfer them outside a month after sowing with 10cm (8in) between each plant.

Care of Chives

This is simple! If the soil has been prepared as described above, just sit back and watch them grow! They are almost completely free of disease, and their only requirement is watering if the conditions become very dry. They occasionally suffer from onion fly, but this is almost always because they have been planted near onions which have been attacked - the solution is not to plant chives near onions.

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