How to Design a Perennial Herb Garden

Herbs can be used for many things. While some are used for their healing properties, others are used for cooking in special flavors. Some herbs have heavy oils that are harvested for perfumes and aromatherapy oils. Herbs can be annual, biannual or perennial. If you want your herbs to come back year after year, you should plant a perennial garden. These herbs are easy to grow, and once you begin an herb garden, you will probably want to add more plants each year. A perennial herb garden is a project that practically anyone can do.

Things You'll Need

• Echinacea, sage, lavendar, thyme and mint seed
• Compost
• Peat moss
• 1 large bucket

Instructions

Design a Perennial Herb Garden

1. Start your garden in winter. Plant seeds in some herb potting soil in small flower pots. This will give your herbs a chance to start growing before planting them outside. They can be transplanted in early spring after all danger of frost is over.

2. Decide on the area for your garden. Herbs like at least 5 to 6 hours of sun and well-drained soil. They can be mixed in with a flower garden or vegetable garden, too, if your space is limited.

3. Dig up a space for your garden and work some peat moss and compost into the soil. You don't want to add too much fertilizer because the plants will produce large leaves with less flavor. A little compost should be enough.

4. Place lavender and echinacea toward the back of the garden. They are the flowering and taller of the herbs. Dig a space in front of the lavender and echinacea to put in a bucket. Mint is invasive and is best planted in a bucket so it doesn't spread and take over your garden. Add dirt to the bucket, plant the mint in it and cover with dirt so you can't see the bucket. Plant the sage and thyme in front. They are shorter plants, but they are also fillers and will fill in around the other plants.

5. Water well after transplanting and every few days thereafter, depending on rainfall. These are all hardy herbs that don't require a lot of water and don't like to be soaked. If you live in an area that has really harsh winters, place some mulch over the garden right before the first frost and remove it in late winter. The herbs will start to come back in the spring.