Herbs are such a superb gift from mother nature in so many ways. There uses are many, including culinary; medicinal; family; decorative and craft. Not to mention their applications in the garden as companion plants and several can be utilized as activators in the compost heap. And there is no better way to delight in their pungent aromatic qualities than to develop them right outside your kitchen door.
Herb Garden
Once you’ve a herb garden you may fall in love with them. Most herbs are quite easy to grow. They don’t need to take up much space, or much of your time.
Herbs do not suffer much from insect attack and they aren’t prone to disease issues. Most will survive even though quite failed – but we need our herbaceous plants to grow healthy and aggressively to best serve us. So let us look at creating the best conditions for your herb garden.
Where To Grow Your Herbs
If you’re lucky enough to have lots of room to get a plot devoted to growing herbs, then that is excellent. A excellent way to grow herbs together is in a spiral. I love to interplant herbs throughout my backyard, taking advantage of the wonderful Companion Planting advantages, in addition to having those I use most in the kitchen close by for easy access.
Many herbs originate from the Mediterranean and favor conditions suited to this climate. Such as hot, dry summers and cool, wet winters. Often the hotter summer time, the more fragrant the oils of this herb become.
Although most herbs will grow in partial shade, they will grow best if you opt for a location with between 4 and 6 hours of sun daily.
Nearly all herbs prefer a well-drained soil, but will deal with varying soil types. You can always improve your beginning soil by adding organic matter, including compost and mulching. If your soil does not drain well you may consider building raised beds or growing your herbs in containers.
Most herbs don’t need much in the way of fertilizers. Adding compost as a mulch using a layer of pea straw or similar on the top is sufficient to keep most herbs flourishing.
Growing Your Herbs In Containers
Herbs are some of the easiest plants to grow in containers. With some idea to position of the sun, you can develop them very successfully on patios, balconies, terraces and verandas. This way you can quite literally have them in your back door – or perhaps on your window sill. Container growing is particularly beneficial if you are living in a really cold winter climate, so that you could over-winter your herbs in containers inside.
You can pick just about any container to grow herbs inside. You could get pretty creative with your container as long as it’s enough drainage and isn’t something which may have any poisonous residue. But if you are not really that creative you will find custom planters, large shallow baskets which allow various kinds of herbs to grow together, strawberry baskets and window boxes – and I’m sure you will find even more choices to select from.
Smaller herbs will be the best option for container plants. You might be amazed at how several kinds of herbs will be happy growing together in the same pot. Choosing slow growing herbs means that you won’t need to keep them clean. Snipping what you need for supper will keep them compact and bushy. Always select wholesome herbs to give them the best start. Remove any dead or diseased leaves to keep them healthy.
When potting them up into their container recall that they will be there for some time, so pick a good, well drained potting mix. Because most herbs do not require plenty of fertilizer, pick a potting mix without additional fertilizer. Container plants need more attention to watering demands as they will dry out much quicker than plants in the ground. On hot, dry days you might want to water small containers twice daily.
Seasonal Care
Keeping weeds from your herb garden and watering well during summer are the two chief requirements to keeping your recognized herbs healthy. Mulching will be a major help with these two tasks. Additionally, it will help keep your herb roots cool. Apply a thick layer of mulch – about three or four inches / 8-10 cm to work. If you reside in a place with severe winters you’ll have to over-winter a few herbs or treat them as annuals and plant new plants in spring.
Your will benefit greatly by adding herbs in your garden. They provide so much, yet ask so little. Some herbs are best treated as groundcovers, some create beautiful pruning crops, but I prefer to grow the majority of my herbs amongst other plants. They truly come into their own when their attractiveness and aromas can be gotten intimately and often.
