How to Design a Garden for Herbs

Grow mints separately to prevent them from overrunning other herbs.

Herb gardens can provide you with a constant supply of fresh herbs. Most herb plants are easy to maintain, and their upkeep will be far less expensive than purchasing fresh herbs. Properly designing your herb garden will help ensure that they grow quickly and strongly. You should also keep aesthetics in mind when planting your herbs so that your garden is enjoyable to look at. Also take location into consideration; if you will be planting mainly culinary herbs, then you will probably want to plant your herb garden where it's easily accessible from the kitchen.

Instructions

1. Choose an area of your yard that gets at least five hours of direct sunlight per day. Check to see that your site has good drainage by pressing your finger into the soil several hours after after rains or thorough irrigation. If the soil is waterlogged, the area should not be used for an herb garden.

2. Sturdy herb seed and plant selections available through local garden centers and catalogs and from online sources. Decide what to plant based on what you're most likely to use in cooking and for other purposes.

3. Border your herb garden by developing it as a raised bed or beds, especially if you have heavy clay or other poor soil. Herbs can survive in very poor soils, but will do better in well-drained soil with adequate organic matter -- easy to achieve fairly quickly with raised garden beds.

4. Position a focal point in the center of the herb garden to add interest. Focal points can include an arrangement of landscaping rocks, a rose bush or a bird bath.

5. Plant similar herbs together. For example, plant parsley, basil and cilantro together, or rosemary and thyme together. Make sure larger plants, such as dill, won't shade smaller plants.

6. Plant herbs that tend to dominate and spread quickly, such as mint, away from the other herbs. This will give them a chance to grow without choking out other herbs.

7. Position pavers or stepping stones throughout, if your garden is large, once have transplanted and seeded your herbs. Locate pavers among clusters or between rows of herbs, so that you can access to all of the herbs without compacting soil or stepping on any plants.

Tips & Warnings

• Drip irrigation systems allow you to apply just the water needed to various herbs, and will make your herb garden nearly labor free.

• Harvest herbs early in the morning, when concentrations of essential oils are highest.

References

• Gardening Patch: Herb Garden Design
• Herb Gardening Guru: Designing an Herb Garden
• Virginia Cooperative Extension: Herbs