One of my food-growing plans has always been starting a small herb garden that would provide a zesty fresh supply for my culinary needs; but I mostly craved it for the scented display of these fragrant plants. The endeavor is also exciting because of the various possiblities it allows: the size and shape of the container, and the number and types of herbs planted are all variables that offer endless combinations.
Setting up a small container garden of herbs is easy and pretty straight forward. In this post I describe how I started mine.
1. Choosing location and size of your garden:
Before attempting to start an herb garden - or any container garden for this matter - it is important to establish the space you have available for it: where would you place your garden? what are the light conditions there? is the spot too windy?
Always consider the light conditions when choosing a location for your plants: some plants thrive better in shade while others will need a lot of sunlight for a healthy growth. Does your location provide enough natural light? Will you need articifial lighting to supplement the conditions? (I will be publishing a detailed post on natural and artificial lighting for plants soon).
Generally, herbs benefit from a sunny spot; but like most plants, they will not tolerate long periods of exposure to direct sunlight. Personally, all the gardening space I have is on the northern side of my house; which means that east-facing plants will benefit from the morning sun and the west-facing ones from the afternoon sun. I am placing the herb garden in an east-facing balcony.
Plants are resilient creatures, beautifully adpated to their environments. But even the least delicate ones will not enjoy a spot that is too windy or where they will be subjected to draft. So the second factor to consider when choosing your location is how protected from wind and draft your plants will be.
After determining the suitable position, you can easily decide on the size of your garden, i.e. the container. The most important factor will be the space available: how much room do you have for the container? You want the container garden to last you for a long time before you need to repot or pot on; so, no matter which size you select, go for a container that is at least 20 centimeter deep to allow for healthy root growth.
There is a wide selection of containers available in the market - pots and troughs of various sizes and shapes, and of various materials - most commonly available are of course the plastic ones, with yet a larger variety in color and design, there are clay and wood containers too. After having determined the size you need your container to be, selection is mostly a matter of taste. Most importantly, the container must provide proper drainage as discussed in the section below.
2. Selecting the herbs and varieties:
In selecting which herbs to grow, you will be constrained by their availability and the space you have available. Local varieties will always be better adapted and therefore you will have a higher chance in growing them successfully. In general, when buying plants from a nursery, always consult with the vendors on the conditions the plants have been kept at and their recommendations for light and watering demands.
At this stage, I have not started herbs from seed yet. I had a local variety basil plant, and a rosemary. Checking at the plant nursery, I also obtained local spearmint and thyme; all potted. I will be adding more to the garden.
Other herbs to grow are marjoram, parsley, tarragon, bay leaves, oregano, sage.
3. Preparing the container:
Having determined the location and size of your garden, and obtained the plants and container, you are now ready to plant the herbs. In addition to the plants and container, you will need a good potting mixture and some pebbles and broken crocks. I generally use a 1 part sand to 1 part peat to 1 part perlite mixture (check out this post to read more about mixing potting soil basics).
The most important thing to observe when potting, is that the container have holes for drainage. Without drainage, any excess water will not run off and will cause water-logging and rotting of the roots (check out the Troubleshooting page on symptoms and remedies of water-logging - post coming out soon).
If your container does not feature any drainage holes, drill at least four holes (preferably using a 6 mm or 8 mm drill). Cover the holes with pebbles or broken crocks to prevent soil from getting into the holes and eventually clogging them. Fill one third of your container depth with potting mixture, depending on the size of your plants, you will need to add more mixture below the smaller ones so their bases are all at he same level.
4. Arranging the herbs:
Before you can arrange your herbs, you will need to knock out the plant of its pot. A post demonstrating how to do that correctly will be published soon. Pay good attention not to severe or harm the roots.
Arranging the plants is a matter of taste, but generally, taller plants are placed in the background and smaller trailing ones in the front. Before you knock out the plants, I advise that you experiment some arranging the potted herbs into the destination container, in order to get a visual preview of how your garden will look like without disturbing the roots too much. Once you have decided on an arrangement, start placing the herbs into their new container.
Now with the herbs arranged inside the container, add the potting mixture to fill the container. I had opted for a larger container, because there are still a some herb varieties I would like to add to my garden (I am having trouble finding bay leaves - but I am still looking, I want to add marjoram, and I have another basil variety seed I will be starting). Make sure all root balls are supported well with soil, but don't pack your potting mixture to tight; with regular watering, the soil will set and you might later need to add some top soil.
Now you need to observe and care for your herbs. As with any plants that are removed from their original environment, the herbs might show some loss of robustness due to the knocking-out and change of position. But with good care they will be restored to their original vividity within a week or so.
I spray all my plants at least once a day (the best time for spraying and watering is the early morning or after sunset), this helps keep the leaves clean and maintain an adequate moisture level. Because of that I only need to water the plants every other day, even during the hottest times. Always check the moistness of your soil before watering by inserting a finger deep into it. Overwatering is as deterimental to plants as underwatering (a post on watering and feeding the plants will be published soon).
And that's about it. Enjoy your herbs, and don't be shy about trimming their tops every now and then. You will be treating yourself to a zesty fresh ingredient, and the herbs will grow bushier and denser.
1. Choosing location and size of your garden:
Before attempting to start an herb garden - or any container garden for this matter - it is important to establish the space you have available for it: where would you place your garden? what are the light conditions there? is the spot too windy?
Always consider the light conditions when choosing a location for your plants: some plants thrive better in shade while others will need a lot of sunlight for a healthy growth. Does your location provide enough natural light? Will you need articifial lighting to supplement the conditions? (I will be publishing a detailed post on natural and artificial lighting for plants soon).
Generally, herbs benefit from a sunny spot; but like most plants, they will not tolerate long periods of exposure to direct sunlight. Personally, all the gardening space I have is on the northern side of my house; which means that east-facing plants will benefit from the morning sun and the west-facing ones from the afternoon sun. I am placing the herb garden in an east-facing balcony.
Plants are resilient creatures, beautifully adpated to their environments. But even the least delicate ones will not enjoy a spot that is too windy or where they will be subjected to draft. So the second factor to consider when choosing your location is how protected from wind and draft your plants will be.
After determining the suitable position, you can easily decide on the size of your garden, i.e. the container. The most important factor will be the space available: how much room do you have for the container? You want the container garden to last you for a long time before you need to repot or pot on; so, no matter which size you select, go for a container that is at least 20 centimeter deep to allow for healthy root growth.
There is a wide selection of containers available in the market - pots and troughs of various sizes and shapes, and of various materials - most commonly available are of course the plastic ones, with yet a larger variety in color and design, there are clay and wood containers too. After having determined the size you need your container to be, selection is mostly a matter of taste. Most importantly, the container must provide proper drainage as discussed in the section below.
2. Selecting the herbs and varieties:
In selecting which herbs to grow, you will be constrained by their availability and the space you have available. Local varieties will always be better adapted and therefore you will have a higher chance in growing them successfully. In general, when buying plants from a nursery, always consult with the vendors on the conditions the plants have been kept at and their recommendations for light and watering demands.
At this stage, I have not started herbs from seed yet. I had a local variety basil plant, and a rosemary. Checking at the plant nursery, I also obtained local spearmint and thyme; all potted. I will be adding more to the garden.
Other herbs to grow are marjoram, parsley, tarragon, bay leaves, oregano, sage.
3. Preparing the container:
Having determined the location and size of your garden, and obtained the plants and container, you are now ready to plant the herbs. In addition to the plants and container, you will need a good potting mixture and some pebbles and broken crocks. I generally use a 1 part sand to 1 part peat to 1 part perlite mixture (check out this post to read more about mixing potting soil basics).
The most important thing to observe when potting, is that the container have holes for drainage. Without drainage, any excess water will not run off and will cause water-logging and rotting of the roots (check out the Troubleshooting page on symptoms and remedies of water-logging - post coming out soon).
If your container does not feature any drainage holes, drill at least four holes (preferably using a 6 mm or 8 mm drill). Cover the holes with pebbles or broken crocks to prevent soil from getting into the holes and eventually clogging them. Fill one third of your container depth with potting mixture, depending on the size of your plants, you will need to add more mixture below the smaller ones so their bases are all at he same level.
4. Arranging the herbs:
Before you can arrange your herbs, you will need to knock out the plant of its pot. A post demonstrating how to do that correctly will be published soon. Pay good attention not to severe or harm the roots.
Arranging the plants is a matter of taste, but generally, taller plants are placed in the background and smaller trailing ones in the front. Before you knock out the plants, I advise that you experiment some arranging the potted herbs into the destination container, in order to get a visual preview of how your garden will look like without disturbing the roots too much. Once you have decided on an arrangement, start placing the herbs into their new container.
Now with the herbs arranged inside the container, add the potting mixture to fill the container. I had opted for a larger container, because there are still a some herb varieties I would like to add to my garden (I am having trouble finding bay leaves - but I am still looking, I want to add marjoram, and I have another basil variety seed I will be starting). Make sure all root balls are supported well with soil, but don't pack your potting mixture to tight; with regular watering, the soil will set and you might later need to add some top soil.Now you need to observe and care for your herbs. As with any plants that are removed from their original environment, the herbs might show some loss of robustness due to the knocking-out and change of position. But with good care they will be restored to their original vividity within a week or so.
I spray all my plants at least once a day (the best time for spraying and watering is the early morning or after sunset), this helps keep the leaves clean and maintain an adequate moisture level. Because of that I only need to water the plants every other day, even during the hottest times. Always check the moistness of your soil before watering by inserting a finger deep into it. Overwatering is as deterimental to plants as underwatering (a post on watering and feeding the plants will be published soon).
And that's about it. Enjoy your herbs, and don't be shy about trimming their tops every now and then. You will be treating yourself to a zesty fresh ingredient, and the herbs will grow bushier and denser.
