Herb Garden Design

The ideal place to grow kitchen herbs is right outside the kitchen door. You'll be using the herbs for cooking, baking, teas and eventually preserving them, so make them accessible.

Most herbs need at least six hours of sunlight daily and tolerate average soil. It's best to place perennial herbs where they won't be disturbed by new annuals planted each year.

You don't have to follow any formal shape to create an herb garden.

Choose the herbs you want to grow and read the seed packets or plant tags for growing conditions.

Cluster herbs that require the same sun exposure.

Some, like basils and mints, actually prefer a little shade, which can be provided by placing them near the house.

Decide on the best location for the herbs you want and create a design around them. You may find more than one area will work better for your selections.

A favorite herb garden design is the wagon wheel. You can use an actual wagon wheel, planting between the spokes, or create a bed in the shape of one, with areas clearly divided for individual plantings.

Use a flexible garden hose to outline the area to be dug and place small stepping stones or gravel paths between the plants to define the shape and provide access.

Parsleys, chives, rosemary, sage, lavender and dill have room to grow in this design. A low fence or border of flowers finishes it off.

Since many herbs are low growing, another popular herb garden design is the rock garden. This is ideal on a slope, as the rocks prevent water runoff and soil erosion.

Create a natural arrangement of rocks in various sizes and shapes, and plant herbs in between. Chives, chamomile, creeping thyme, prostrate rosemary, bush basil and parsley are some favorites for rock gardens.

Some herbs work beautifully as ground covers in the garden. Chamomile and wooly thyme spread easily between stone or brick paths and the scent fills the garden as you walk on them. You can even mow them if they get too tall.

There are, of course, some herb plants that can interfere with your well planned herb garden design. Mints have a tendency to be invasive, choking out other plants in their path.

It's best to keep them in pots. You can bury the pot in the ground or sit them where they'll add height to your herb garden, perhaps beside a bench where you'll enjoy the scent when you sit and rest.

The possibilities are endless, but in the end your herb garden design should allow you easy access to herb plants you'll use and enjoy in your kitchen everyday.

More Herb Garden

Herb Garden Layouts
The type of herb garden layout you choose depends on the herbs you select and the theme you are using as a guide. Whether your style is formal or informal, historic or modern, you can mix and blend herbs that serve your purposes. Experiment with some new varieties, plant some just for their aroma or appearance, and enjoy the experience of growing herbs.

Herb Garden Plans for Small Spaces
Herbs are very accommodating and can be tucked into small spaces, mixed in with flowers and under hedges, and potted in containers. Select plants for herb garden plans that are favorites for culinary, medicinal or craft uses, and you'll be supplied with an ongoing supply; the more you pick, the more they continue to produce.

Indoor Herb Garden
By providing a few basic conditions, you can easily grow a large selection of herbs indoors, on a sunny windowsill or under plant lights.

Herb Garden Plants
Whichever herbs you choose to grow, indoors or in a garden, and which method you select to preserve them, there's no question that adding herb garden plants will be beneficial for culinary, medicinal and creative purposes.