erbs have always been a part of our lives.  Historically, herbs were recorded to have been utilized medicinally, culinary, and simply for their fragrance.  Ancient civilizations historically used herbs for medicinal and symbolic purposes.  Recipes passed throughout generations refer to the use of herbs to enhance the flavors in a special dish.  Literary passages describe 17^th and 18^th century ladies with their herbal tussy mussy’s* deferring unpleasant odors as they made their way to special outings or church functions.  The Victorian era referenced herbs and flowers symbolically for sentiment, a custom referred to as florigraphy (the meaning of flowers*). Therefore, it is little wonder that herbs have earned a place in our gardens.  Throughout the ages we have enjoyed their healing powers and savory enhancements to our recipes.   

Freshly harvested herbs have pungent and aromatic qualities that far exceed those of their commercially obtained counterparts--whether fresh or dried.  Even after the outdoor growing season is over, you can still enjoy dried herbs in fragrant potpourris and sachets. You can also grow herbs indoors in pots on sunny windowsills, and use them for culinary purposes fresh, dried, or frozen.

lassification:  Herbs are classified either as annuals, biennials, or perennials. Annual herbs are usually grown from seed; they grow, flower, and produce seed during one season, and then die. Biennial herbs grow for two seasons, flowering the second year only. Perennial herbs, once established, dieback in winter and flower each season. Some herbs are tender perennials; these do not survive severe winters and are best grown as annuals or over-wintered indoors.  The garden center offers a variety of 4” potted herb plants to utilize as starts in your garden.   

reparation:  Herbs flourish under the same conditions that you provide for your flower or vegetable garden. Although most herbs will grow in partial shade, it is better if the herb garden receives at least 4 to 6 hours of sunlight a day. A majority of herbs will grow well under a wide range of soil conditions, with the exception of extremely wet, poorly drained soils. Note, however, that sage, rosemary, thyme, and lavender require a well-drained but moderately moist soil. Your herb garden will need attention throughout the growing season. Weed control and provision for adequate moisture are two important cultural necessities. When rainfall is less than 1 inch per week, provide additional moisture. The use of mulch is an attractive and effective means of controlling weeds and maintaining constant soil moisture and temperature for the root systems of your herbs. Mulches that you might consider include bark chips or shredded bark, compost, or grass clippings.

If the garden soil is poorly drained, you can improve the situation by amending it. Most effective would be the use of raised beds. To improve soil fertility, add compost before planting. Spade it into the soil thoroughly.

Prepare your garden site in the same manner that you would a vegetable garden. Then level and rake the site to remove any large rocks and debris.

The size of your garden will depend largely upon the quantity of herbs that you need and want to grow.  An herb garden can take any form. They can be planted in a formal garden, informally with flowers, trees, and shrubs, or using theme gardens (kitchen, scented, or color.)

A “formal” herb garden generally is composed of a series of beds that are not identical, but appear balanced. The herbs are arranged by height, foliage color, and/or use, often in rows. Formal gardens of the 16th century were designed as knot gardens. This style used plants to create intricate, geometric designs within a square or rectangle. The perimeter of the bed creates the “bones” of the herb garden.  When choosing your plants for a knot garden, those that are compact, low-growing, and manageable are best. Avoid invasive herbs such as the mints. In addition to the herbs, statuary, topiaries, and container-grown plants are important features to include in a formal garden.

Herbs can be used to enhance most any garden. Unfortunately most herbs look great for a season, and then get leggy and unattractive the rest of the season. For this reason, they are often “informally” combined with annual and perennial flowers, trees, shrubs, groundcovers, and vegetables. This allows you to take advantage of the various colors, textures, and sizes that other plants have to offer.

Some gardeners prefer to select a “specific theme” for their herb garden and choose the herbs accordingly. Some examples are a kitchen garden (including thyme, sage, basil, tarragon, dill); a single color garden such as gray-green (including lavender, artemesia, and wormwood); a scented garden (including mint, scented geranium, lemon balm, silver thyme, and rosemary); or a garden with different varieties of a specific herb (garden sage, tricolor sage, purple sage, pineapple sage). The possibilities are endless, limited only by your imagination.

Once you have decided on the type of garden you want, make a rough sketch or drawing on paper. This helps to visualize what the garden will look like and will help in figuring the number of plants needed. Think about the placement (shorter plants in front, taller towards the back) as well as seasonal flowering. Consider the specific requirements of the herb (sun vs. shade; moist vs. dry soil).

Use specific plant characteristics when deciding where to locate the plants. Color is one of the most noticeable features of a plant. By choosing a single color scheme, you can create a garden that gives a sense of space.  For the best effect, vary the height, shape, texture, and size of the flowers and tones of the color. Colors can also be used in combination; some colors blend together better than others. For example, a silver-foliaged plant such as Grey Santolina enhances red or pastel flowers. Yellow with blue or orange with purple are colors that create a strong effect.

Contrast is another technique to use to make your garden more interesting. By definition, contrast is using opposing elements close together to produce an interesting effect. You can contrast textures, darks, lights, colors, shapes, lines, flower form, flower height. Any design element is possible. For example, a plant with round flowers is complemented by a plant with spiky flowers.

ontainers:  Many herbs can be grown successfully in containers on a patio or balcony. There are many reasons why you may want to grow herbs in containers rather than in the garden. First, many of them are small and tend to get lost in a landscape; growing them in containers brings them closer to the viewer. Container growing is especially recommended for herbs that need good drainage and tend to rot in overly wet garden soils, or for tender herbs that need to be overwintered indoors. Containers are easily transported and can be arranged in attractive groupings with containers of flowering plants. When cooking with herbs, the containers can be kept close at hand for your culinary needs.

Any container is suitable for growing herbs as long as it has a drainage hole. Clay pots are often preferred because they are more porous than plastic. Other containers that work well include window boxes, strawberry jars, and hanging baskets.  Window boxes, strawberry jars and large clay pots can accommodate a combination of several herbs and flowers.  I prefer shallow clay bowls when creating multiple herb selections.   

The soil you use should be loose and well-drained. A recommended mix for container grown plants can be made by mixing equal parts of potting soil, peat moss, and perlite (or vermiculite).  Our Jungle Growth brand potting mix is a preferred mix that we use in our sample containers. 

Watering is the most difficult part of container gardening. Plants grown in containers dry out faster than those grown in the ground. On a hot, sunny day, a container may require water once or twice daily. Of course, the water requirements vary from plant to plant. When the top of the soil feels dry, apply enough water to allow a small amount to come out the drainage holes in the bottom of the container. If your potting soil appears to always dry out quickly, you may want to utilize the Soil Moist product mixed with the soil in your container.  This product is especially helpful in hanging baskets.

Since most herbs do not require high fertility, you should not need to fertilize them as much as you would other container-grown plants such as flowers or houseplants. During the growing season, pinch the plants back to keep them bushy and compact and remove any dead or diseased leaves to keep them healthy.  To freshen up the plants with an organic fertilizer, I like to use the Fish and Kelp solution by Green Sense with a .4-.4-.5 content or Ohrstrom’s Maxicrop Liquified Seaweed content of 0.1-0.0-1.0.  I also don’t allow the herbs used in cooking to flower, this makes the seasoning bitter.  Pinch off the flower buds and don’t allow these plants to reseed. 

Herbs grown in containers can be easily moved indoors for the winter. Gradually move them indoors a few hours at a time over the period of several days so they get adjusted to the differences in temperature and light. Herbs grown indoors should be treated differently than plants grown outside. They need sufficient light to keep the plants from getting spindly. Grow them in the sunniest location you have or under fluorescent lights. Since the plants will not be using as much water as they did outdoors, water only when the soil is dry; avoiding overwatering which will cause the roots to rot. Check the plants frequently for aphids, spider mites, and whiteflies which are common pests on herbs grown indoors.