Herb Gardening Ideas

Herbs can be planted in the soil or in containers. For those who will be planting these in the soil, make sure you plot the area first before putting these in. While drawing it on a piece of paper is good, why don’t you place pegs, rocks, or other markers to outline the shape of the garden plot? This will give you an idea how it looks like when the herbs finally grow.

A Few Important Things to Know About Herbs

Herbs have three different types of life cycles. They are evergreen, herbaceous or annual. The specifics of these life cycles and how to care for plants in each life cycle are given below.

Herbs grow in two phases each season: leaf producing phase and flower producing phase. Most culinary herbs are grown for their leaves or foliage. Once flower production begins, leaf production ceases. Therefore, in annuals and herbaceous varieties, harvesting the foliage consistently before the plant flowers can extend leaf production.

Three types of herbs – Evergreens, Herbaceous and Annuals

Evergreen Herbs

The evergreen varieties of herbs include:

• Sage
• Rosemary
• Thyme

They do not die back over the winter, but remain green year round. They will still require pruning to maximize their production of new tender and flavorful growth, and should be pruned at least once a year.

Herbaceous Herbs

The herbaceous herbs include:

• Oregano
• Mints
• Tarragon
• Chives Bee
• Lemon Balm
• Winter Savory

These plants will die back to the ground at wintertime. There is no need to prune these plants with care, as they can be chopped right to the ground and will come back strong and healthy. In fact, for some, an annual mowing is an easy solution.

Annuals

Annuals include:

• Cilantro
• Basil
• Chervil

Unlike evergreens and herbaceous herbs, annuals do not live more than one season. While evergreens and herbaceous herbs are perennials, and grow for two years or longer, annuals produce flowers and then seeds before dying off at the end of each growing season. Therefore, annuals require new plantings each spring.

Planting the Herb Garden

There are three main ingredients to a healthy and successful herb garden: Sunlight, soil and pruning. Herbs require healthy, well-drained soil to grow, and poor soil or poor drainage lead to failed gardens.

Sunlight is a major factor in a successful herb garden. Full sun is a must if what you want are healthy, full herbs. Shade or lack of sun leads to “leggy” or long stemmed plants with poor foliage and little flavor. To get the full lush foliage, fragrance and flavor of exceptional herbs, you need plenty of sunlight.

Soil should be loose, have a good base of composted matter, leaves or mulch to create plenty of air space for the roots and nutrients for the growing plants. Herbs need well-drained soil to avoid drowning and root rot.

Pruning is the final ingredient for your healthy herb garden. Follow the guidelines according to the plant type (evergreen, herbaceous or annual) above to ensure your plants remain strong and healthy throughout the growing season. At the very least, at the end of each growing season all herbaceous plants should be cut back completely, evergreens should be well pruned to remove older non productive woody growth and annual seeds should be collected.

Some Herb Gardening Ideas to Help Your Herbs Thrive

1. Herb gardens far from the house or kitchen tend to be used much less often. Out of sight is out of mind, so keep your herb garden as close as you can to the kitchen door.

2. Consider using outdoor containers or raised beds. Raised containers or beds mean you don’t have to get down on your hands and knees to work the garden. For those who will use a container, make sure that it is food-safe, such as plastic, terra cotta, or even old wine barrels.  Some people are able to put two or more herbs in one pot, but, if the herb you are planting is a large plant, grow these in separate pots.

3. Mix it up! While it is recommended that individual containers be used for each type of herb, if you’re working in an outdoor garden there’s no reason not to pretty things up with some flowers: plant marigolds, zinnias, calendula or other clumping flowering plants around your borders.

4.  If you’re looking for protection from pests and animals, use wormwood and tansy as an outer border to the garden. One threat you should always be on the lookout for are pests like red spider mites and aphids. You can get rid of them by mixing castile soap and water then spraying this over the herbs or putting a few other insects that will do the job of getting rid of them.

5.  Consider having a square herb bed. You can have your square bed divided into four by two paths crossing at mid point measuring 3 feet. You can border it with stone or brick. A wooden ladder may also do the trick. You can lay it down on your garden and plant your herbs between its rungs. You can also choose to have a wagon wheel bed. Planting here is like planting with the wooden ladders. Plant your herbs in between the wagon wheel's wedges.

6.  Select herbs that you already know will thrive in your environment. Keep it simple at first, and then build up your garden as you gain more and more experience.

7.  You should grow the herbs that you and your family like best. Some suggestions include parsley, rosemary, oregano, dill, and sage, as well as basil and fennel. If you purchase plants you will save yourself a lot of time over growing seeds. You do not have to choose the largest plants, simply look for the ones that are most healthy and show the most rounded growth.

Synonyms: hrb, heb and erb are typos for "herb."  grding, gardning, garding, gardenig, and gardining are typos for "gardening."