Growing your own herbs is a great way to add flavor to your cooking and enjoy the beauty of nature. Whether you have a large garden or a small space, there are plenty of options for cultivating herbs. Here are some tips for getting started. If you're planting in a container, fill two-thirds with peat-free compost and use a trowel to dig a hole slightly larger than the root ball of the plant.
Add more compost around the plants if needed and label them so your children know which is which. Research the final height and extent of each herb, so that you give it enough room to grow. Plant at the same depth as the root ball and water well. Divide your herb garden into different areas for herbs that have similar growth requirements. You can use bricks, pieces of bark, or gravel to divide the sections into a somersault or checkerboard design.
If you have a space that gets between six and eight hours of sunlight on a sunny day, you can grow herbs. An herb garden can be used for many purposes, from growing culinary herbs for use in the kitchen to cultivating medicinal herbs for healing purposes. If you garden on heavy clay, you'll need to add plenty of organic matter and horticultural sand to make it loose. You can grow herbs in a specific part of your garden, but if space is limited, you can create an herb garden in a raised bed, in a large container, or even in a planter. Use soil made specifically for container gardening that has plenty of perlite, pumice, rice husks, or other aerating material. You can continuously sow or plant shorter-lived culinary herbs (such as coriander) for several months to ensure a continuous supply in the future.
The herbs best suited for an indoor kitchen herb garden are those that are tender, leafy, and fast-growing. When it comes to watering, plants planted outside your garden are likely to need less frequent watering than herbs planted in pots and containers. Creating an herb garden at home is an enjoyable and rewarding experience. With some research and planning, you can create an herb garden that will provide you with fresh ingredients for years to come. For more information on growing guidelines for different types of herbs, check out this helpful list of tips from Better Homes & Gardens.
