How to Grow Sweet Basil in Soil

Grow your own basil so that you always have it fresh in your kitchen.

Growing herbs in your home garden will provide you with fresh ingredients for cooking your meals. Sweet basil is a common cooking herb used in many Italian dishes. Growing herbs, in particular basil, is a fairly easy gardening endeavor. You need a sunny location in your garden to plant sweet basil. It is important that the soil drains well and receives at least half a day's worth of sunlight, but full sunlight is preferable. Make sure that you plant basil after all danger of frost has passed in your area, because it is a tender herb that is not frost hardy.

Things You'll Need

• Trowel
• Sand (if you have clay soil)
• Sweet basil seedlings
• Tape measure
• Watering can
• Mulch

Instructions

1. Prepare a sunny area of your garden to plant the sweet basil. Use a trowel to mix in sand if you have clay soil so that it will drain better. Basil requires well-draining soil.

2. Prepare holes with a trowel every 12 inches in a row. The holes should be twice the width and depth of the root-ball of the seedlings.

3. Remove the seedlings from the pots or tray, and lower them into the holes. Pack around each seedling with the soil you removed from the holes, gently with your fingers.

4. Water the seedlings with a watering can. Allow the soil to slightly dry before each watering.

5. Mulch around the base of the basil plants to maintain moisture and prevent weed growth.

Tips & Warnings

• Try growing different varieties of basil so that you will have subtle flavor variations in your cooking. There are over 40 different varieties of basil that you can try growing. Prune basil approximately every two weeks to maintain a healthy, bushy plant.

• Plant basil after all danger of frost has passed for your region.

References

• Ohio State University Extension: Growing, Selecting and Using Basil; Jeanne Youger-Comaty
• University of Minnesota; Basil; 2007

Resources

• Gardening Patch: Growing Basil