Fennel

Established garden plants overwinter without protection. The foliage above ground dies back in autumn, which is normal, and it sprouts again in spring. Well-drained soil is important, as winter wet harms more than frost; cover young plants or those in pots with leaves or brushwood, or place them sheltered and cool.

The most reliable way to propagate herb fennel is from seed. For starting under cover, sow from early March on the windowsill in individual pots, as fennel forms a sensitive taproot and tolerates pricking out and transplanting poorly. It is best to use seed pots that you can later set in the bed together with the root ball. Once the Ice Saints are over (mid-May), you can plant the young plants outdoors. Direct sowing in the bed is possible from mid-April, as soon as the soil is at least 10 °C. You can stagger sowings until July. Fennel is a dark germinator: sow the seeds about 0.5 to 1 cm deep, cover them with soil and keep them evenly moist. At around 20 °C they germinate after about one to two weeks. In a sunny, wind-sheltered spot, fennel often self-seeds and returns year after year. You obtain your own seed by leaving the umbels standing until they are completely brown, then cutting them off, hanging them upside down in a bundle to dry further and knocking the seeds out.

Division only makes sense for plants that have been established for several years and works best in early spring at new growth or in autumn. It works above all in loose, sandy soil; in heavy, loamy soil the long taproot breaks easily. Dig up the clump so generously that the root stays as intact as possible, and separate only pieces of the root crown with their own shoot base and share of root. The success rate is much lower than with sowing; expect some of the pieces to fail.