This could be a great year to get an herb garden started! We have lots of information on the HGIC website about growing herbs, and more will be coming soon to celebrate GIEI’s Year of Herbs. I’m going to add here some hints for making your herb garden a success.
Note: this information is about culinary herbs (plants whose leaves or seeds are used as seasonings) rather than medicinal herbs, which are used to treat medical conditions or promote health. We here at Grow It Eat It are not medical practitioners and cannot recommend medicinal herbs for use, though we could give you some ideas about growing them. Please don’t experiment on yourself based on random information gleaned from the web or an old book. If you want up-to-date advice about herbs and your health, contact a herbalist who’s part of the American Herbalist Guild. The Herb Society of America also has reliable information about all sorts of herbs on their website.
The first thing to ask yourself about starting a culinary herb garden is which herbs you enjoy using in your cooking. If you’ve bought fresh herbs at a grocery store, you know how expensive they can be, and often the bunch is too big for you to use up before they go bad. Think about having all the herbal bounty you want, when you want it, for the cost of a few dollars to buy a plant or some seeds!
Where to find plants and seeds
First, while those little pots of herbs you buy at a supermarket are useful to have around in your kitchen in the wintertime, they do not transplant well to the garden. It looks like they are grown by putting a bunch of seeds into a pot and creating lots of skinny plants that will not be healthy enough to survive moving, plus they have never been exposed to outdoor conditions. Buy your plants from a garden center and check to make sure there are not more than two or three at the most in the pot—one would be better, even if it sounds less cost-effective.
Many garden centers and hardware stores stock herb plants in the spring. They often come in various pot sizes, and unless for some reason you need a big plant immediately, you’re better off starting with a small one and giving it good growing conditions. Make sure the soil in the pot isn’t bone-dry (or soggy wet) and the plant isn’t losing leaves, turning yellow, being chewed on by insects, or mysteriously spotted or ragged. In other words, it should be healthy! Try to buy early rather than waiting until the last pathetic bits of inventory are on sale.
You can also start herb plants from seed, but check first how long they will take to grow. You may be better off starting with a plant someone else has grown. The HGIC website page linked above will give you specific advice.
If you’re looking for something more unusual than the commonly available herb plants, you may need to order a plant or seeds online, or visit an herb fair in your area.
Where to plant your herb garden
First, make sure you know whether each herb you’re planting is an annual, biennial, or perennial. Biennial plants (that bloom and go to seed in their second year) and perennial plants (that last for at least several years) require more thought in placement than annuals, which can essentially be treated like annual vegetables. You can put herbs into your vegetable garden, but if they are going to be left in place over the winter, it makes more sense to locate them on the edges or in their own sector, so the roots won’t be disturbed by digging. Or you can plant a separate herb garden, or grow your herbs in containers.
The most important factors in growing herbs are sun exposure (most herbs want full sun) and good soil drainage. Most herbs don’t need highly fertile soil, but they do react badly to heavy clay soils that hold water. Consider creating a raised bed for herbs, since it will drain much better.
I’m giving advice about “herbs” generally, but each type of herb has its own growing requirements and habits, so check out the HGIC page and the Herb Society of America website for more specific information. Some herbs, like basil, want more watering, grow fast and need frequent harvesting; some, like lavender, grow more slowly and prefer rocky, drier soil, but can eventually become monsters that take over your entire designated herb area.
Other considerations
- Give some thought to how many plants of each herb you need before you start buying. You may want multiple basil plants if you plan to make pesto, for example, but you will really never need more than one culinary sage plant.
- Some herbs will multiply given the chance, either by dropping seeds or by insinuating their roots into every corner of your garden. Be careful with the mints, always! But it can be nice to have cilantro and dill plants springing up here and there.
- Herbs are not just for your meals. Many herb plants are extremely ornamental and can be grown as part of flowerbeds (assuming the soil and light conditions suit them), or might add some pizzazz to your vegetable beds. The flowers are often beautiful and attract insects that will pollinate your other plants and/or protect them from pests. Strongly scented herbs may also have some deterrent effect against animals like deer and rabbits, although it’s better to rely on a fence.
- Just be aware that growing herb plants is addictive! But your meals will be better for it.
I’ll post more about herb growing in the coming months. Spring is approaching fast!
By Erica Smith, Montgomery County Master Gardener. Read more posts by Erica.