Herb Gardening Tips – 9 Tips on How to Design a Herb Garden
Planning an herb garden can be an exciting venture. Herb beds smell so delicious that they are wonderful to have near the house but of course, that is not always possible. Understanding the use of the herb garden goes a long way towards the planning of the garden.
Herb gardens come in all shapes and sizes. Herbs are grown in the vegetable garden plot, in the flower bed and in large and small pots. When dedicating some garden space to growing herbs it is worth designing a garden especially for them because herbs are picked on a regular basis and this requires moving through the bed.
Designing your herb garden.
There are several points to keep in mind when setting up an herb garden:
Where it is to go? The first step is to work out exactly where the herb garden is going to be located. For convenience and continued use, it is a good idea to have the herb garden near the kitchen door but it does require 4-6 hours sunlight so this may not be possible.
What to grow? Once the location is decided upon the next step is to work out what herbs are going to be grown and then making sure that the original plan will support the number of herbs to be planted. When these two steps are in sync then the designing of the garden is the next thing.
The shape of the herb garden. Herb gardens can be very attractive as herbs like lavender and rosemary look very pretty when they are in flower, as does camomile and calendula. If the garden is going to be a feature garden the plan might include scalloped edging or a shape that is artistically designed.
The edging to the garden as herbs will spread at a rapid rate so it is advisable to edge an herb garden to keep this under some sort of control.
Stepping stones and/or pathways between the herbs. This step is often overlooked in designing an herb garden but it does need to be incorporated because as the herbs grow and spread it can become quite difficult to move between them for harvesting purposes when no pathway is provided. Ideally paths should be provided in large beds and the odd stepping stone on which to step to harvest the plants.
Plant the taller herbs at the back or if it is a stand-alone garden with no fence or wall, plant the taller herbs in the middle graduating down to the creepers near the pathways.
Mulching the garden with bark will save on weeding and the garden will look more attractive.
Plant the very popular herbs like basil in lines for form a bright green border. Lavender looks great in dense bushes as the flowers make a bright showing. Lavender and rosemary are herbs that grow well as a small hedge in or around the garden. This idea works well with a grouping of plants enclosed in a hedge.
The soil needs to be considered as well. The soil does not need to be very rich as herbs will grow well in average soil but they do not like wet feet so the garden should be well drained.
With all these tips in mind for planning your garden I am sure you will be able to plan a lovely herb garden to supply your kitchen with fresh, tasty herbs. There also will be plenty of herbs to use for aromatherapy and for lovely perfume bags around the house.
