How to Plant an Herb Garden According to Height

Before you plant those herbs, find out how tall they will become.

An herb garden bursting with culinary, scented and medicinal plants requires careful planning. Taller herbs can shade out smaller ones if they are in front of or too close to them. Read plant descriptions on your seed packet or nursery label carefully before establishing herbs in the ground. Some herbs have several cultivars, all with different heights and growth habits. For example, thyme may be either medium-height or ground-hugging, while rosemary plants range from "creeping" to upright varieties at least 6 ft. tall.

Things You'll Need

• Graph paper
• Herb seeds or seedlings
• Seed starting pots and soil (optional)
• Measuring tape
• Spade
• Hose
• Mulch

Instructions

Rectangular Beds and Borders

1. Measure the width of your future herb garden to determine how many rows of herbs you'll be able to fit into the garden. A border or bed at least 6 ft. wide will likely enable you to plant tall, medium and short plants, while a narrower one will accommodate only one or two rows.

2. Map out your garden on graph paper, determining how many tall, medium and short plants you can fit into the bed or border.

3. Choose your "back of border" herbs. These are the herbs which grow 4 ft. or taller in a typical three-row system. Choices include tansy, marshmallow, sweet Joe Pye, fennel, hyssop, sweet clover, yarrow, foxgloves, Angelica, comfrey, rue, evening primrose, lovage, lemon grass, lemon verbena and bee balm. Some herb gardens also include dwarf fruit trees, such as weeping pear or mulberry, as a backdrop. If your bed is backed by a wall or trellis, include vining herbs such as honeysuckle, jasmine, nasturtiums, or hops.

4. Select medium-sized herbs that reach heights of 2 to 3 ft. Lavender, santolina, lady's mantle, rosemary, potted mint, lemon balm, dill, tarragon, calendula, sage, soapwort, caraway, costmary, potted mint, sweet Cicely, catnip, savory, basil, oregano, feverfew are just some of the dozens of medium-height herbs to choose from.

5. Plan your front border. Some gardeners edge the front of their herb border with dozens of one kind of plant, such as Alpine strawberries or chives, while other herbalists prefer a mixed front border. Other choices of herbs 12 inches or shorter include chervil, chamomile, clove pinks, parsley, salad burnet, garden cress, thyme, dwarf rosemary and violets. Also consider creeping or dwarf cultivars of medium-sized herbs, such as basil and rosemary.

6. Start seeds indoors or buy nursery seedlings for the plants you've selected. Setting seedlings into the ground rather than sowing seeds makes for increased spacing accuracy.

7. Set pots on the ground according to the spacing suggestions of each plant and make adjustments for unexpected elements, such as a protuding rock or tree stump that can't be removed. Space plants according to their ultimate height and growing habit. Taller, bushier plants will need to be set several feet apart in the back row, while an Alpine strawberry front border requires a spacing of 6 or fewer inches.

8. Plant the herbs, water thoroughly and mulch your new herb garden to a depth of 2 to 3 inches.

Round or Square Beds

1. Measure the diameter or width of the herb bed.

2. Map out your garden on graph paper, determining how many tall, medium and short plants you can fit into the bed or border.

3. Plan the garden bed based on the size of the circular or square herb garden. A bed which is 5 ft. across or smaller will look better-proportioned with a few medium-sized plants at the center, surrounded by a circular border of herbs which are lower than 12 inches. Larger circular beds might feature a rose bush, fruit tree, or trellis sourrounded by an interior circular border of medium-sized herbs and an outer circular border or shorter herbs.

4. Select herbs based on size, such as those mentioned in the rectangular herb garden section. Follow the instructions for planting and spacing as outlined in the rectangular section.

5. .

Tips & Warnings

• If you include annual herbs in your garden, leave gaps when setting out your perennial herbs. At the end of their growing season, uproot annuals and set an upside-down pot to remember where to put next year's basil, marigolds parsley and dill.

• In northern regions, keep tender perennials in pots so that you may bring them indoors before the first frost. Lemon verbena, bay and rosemary are examples of perennials that gardeners often bring indoors. During the summer, set the pots directly on the ground in the back of the garden, and let medium-sized plants screen the pots. Alternatively, dig a hole, set the potted herb in the ground, and remove the pot in autumn.

• Don't plant sun-loving herbs in the shadiest part of the garden, or those requiring some shade under the blazing sun. It's best to set an herb garden in the sunniest part of your property, because the majority of herbs prefer at least six hours of sunlight each day. Either relocate shade lovers such as lady's mantle to another part of the property, or position them in the main herb bed where they'll receive some shade from a taller plant or nearby structure.

References

• "The Complete Book of Herbs"; Lesley Bremness; 1994
• University of Illinois Extension: List of Common Herbs
• Texas A&M University: Popular Herb Varieties
• University of Delaware Cooperative Extension; Planning and Herb Garden; Jay Windsor and Charles Dunham; April 2004