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Top Herb Garden Designs: Learn From Proven Winners

Admin — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 12:47:07 +0000

While many people choose to grow their herbs inside or in a window box, if you have the space available a larger herb garden may be a good option for you. Since herbs are both beautiful and useful, they are a great addition to any garden.

Herb garden designs depend on a variety of factors. Things like available space, desired style, desired herbs and other factors will dictate what you can do with your herb garden designs. Perhaps the most important factor in herb garden designs is aesthetics. The style of your garden should complement the style of your home as well as reflect your personal style.

In the past English style herb garden designs have been quite popular, and are still the preference of those who like neat rows and symmetry. There is something nostalgic and appealing about neat hedge rows that frame lovely flowering herbs such as lavender, or small shrub plants like rosemary. They usually feature some type of center focal point in the middle, whether it is a statue, or garden furniture or a fountain.

Perhaps one of the best herb garden designs for a small space is a design that uses tiered planters. The reason this works well for smaller areas is that the footprint of the area used is small but as the tiers in the raised planter boxes move up, you gain more planting area.

Another of the most popular herb garden designs is the more modern design of the square garden. It is laid out in a similar fashion to the English style garden but is more open. Where the English garden is usually bordered by short neatly manicured hedges, the square garden is not. English herb garden designs usually feature paths that are covered in small pea gravel, but square herb garden designs feature paths that are covered in pavers of some type.

When you are planning your herb garden one of the critical factors is the variety of plants and where you will put them. Some of your herb plants will grow tall if you allow them to, while some will become very shrub like, being full and low to the ground. Some will require more sunlight than others and some will require more water than others. So when you are choosing the variety of herbs that you want to grow it is important to plan accordingly. Just choosing the herbs that you would like most to have in your kitchen and then planting them can result in problems.

Herbs can also be planted in your existing flower garden if you have one, and they often make beautiful additions. But you will want to be careful as the plant food and pesticides (if you choose to use them) that you would use for flowers are much different than those used on edible plants. The products used for flowers are highly toxic if ingested, so erring on the side of caution is always best.

How To Plant Herb Garden Tips

Admin — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 00:49:40 +0000

Growing herbs is rapidly gaining favor with gardeners today. Both the experienced and beginners are discovering the rewards of growing fresh herbs. They are joining an age old pursuit of seeking to enjoy the delightful products offered by herbs. This pursuit has touched all societies and ages. These how to plant herb garden tips will help the beginning herb gardener get off to a good start on the path to fresh herb enjoyment.

Herbs are easy to grow and starting out they don't necessarily have to be grown in their own garden. They can be planted in an existing flower bed or garden as long as it drains well and it will receive plenty of sunshine. They can also be grown in pots that can be placed either indoors or outside. If culinary herbs are being cultivated it is a good idea to plant them near the kitchen so they will be immediately available for cooking.

An enjoyable challenge to the beginning herb gardener is picking which herbs to raise. In addition to culinary herbs other types include medicinal, aromatic, ornamental, beverage, pesticidal and industrial. It is recommended for the beginner to start with familiar culinary herbs and expand with other type herbs as the confidence and experience levels grow.

Here are a few suggestions with comments for the new gardener's considersation.

SWEET MARJORAM - This is a good plant for growing in pots because it only grows to twelve inches and needs only six inches of space. In warmer areas it can be a perennial but in cooler climes with frequent frosts it is an annual. Its reward is the delicate flavor it adds to soups, salads, fish and lamb.

THYME - This herb is used to flavor poultry dressing and soups. It grows to twelve inches and needs eight inches of space. It is a hardy perennial that becomes a shrub that produces leaves for flavoring. It also needs rich soil.

SUMMER SAVORY - Excellent when used to create mouth-watering fish specialties and to flavor soups and beans. This is a delicate little annual that germinates in only seven to ten days and grows up to twelve inched and requires five inches of space.

BORAGE - This plant's leaves are a great addition to a tossed salad with its subtle flavor. It does not like to be moved so it should be planted directly in the garden where it will reach a height of two feet and need twelve inches of space. It is an annual.

LAVENDER - Here is an aromatic that a new herb gardener might like to try. It is a hardy perennial with gray leaves and spikes of fragrant lavender flowers. The leaves can be dried by hanging them in a cool dry space like and attic or garage. The pleasant scented dried leaves can be used for a variety of purposes including freshening up a linen closet.

Armed with this information you are now ready to start your adventure in herb gardening so go for the gusto.

How to Start Your Own Herb Garden – Herb Garden Tips

Admin — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 13:14:15 +0000

Have you ever tried to grow anything in a garden? If youâre not the type of person that wants to spend time managing an elaborate fruit or vegetable garden, you might consider planting and maintaining an herb garden. While the product might not seem as significant, youâll still enjoy the constant availability of fresh, delicious herbs to flavor your meals with. I like to offer you a few herb garden tips that you can use to start your own herb garden.

First youâll want to choose the herbs that youâll plant. You might have a hard time doing this because of the huge scope of herbs available. When I got ready to start my herb garden, I took a look at the spices in my kitchen cabinet and decide which ones I enjoy the most. I made a list of all the herbs my family and I enjoy and those are the ones I planted in my herb garden. By planting your own collection of these herbs, you can save money on buying them from the grocery store while having the added benefit of freshness. Some of the herbs you might start with include rosemary, sage, basil, dill, mint, chives, and parsley among others.

When choosing an area to put your herb garden, you should remember that the soil should have extremely good drainage. If the dirt gets watered and stays completely saturated, you have no chance of ever growing a healthy plant. One of the best ways to fix the drainage problem is to dig a foot deep in the soil, and put a layer of crushed rocks down before replacing all the soil. This will allow all that water to escape, thus saving your plants.

When you are ready to begin planting your herbs, you might be tempted to buy the more expensive plants from the store. However, with herbs it is much easier to grow them from seed than it is with other plants. Therefore you can save a bundle of money by sticking with seed packets. Some herbs grow at a dangerously fast rate. Be very careful if you plan to grow mint plants. Mint plants will take over an area very quickly, and before you know it, the mint plants have occupied your whole herb garden area.

The best way to prevent this problem is to plant the more aggressive plants in pots, but make sure you get the pots with holes in the bottom to allow drainage.

When it comes time to harvest the herbs you have labored so hard over, it can be fatal to your plant to take off too much. If your plant isnât well established, it isnât healthy to take any leaves at all, even if it looks like itâs not using them. You should wait until your plant has been well established for at least several months before taking off any leaves. This wait will definitely be worth it, because by growing unabated your plant will produce healthily for years to come.

Once youâve harvested your delicious home grown herbs, youâll want to use them in cooking. Why else would you have grown them? Well first the process begins with drying them out. This is easily achieved by placing them on a cookie sheet and baking them at 170 degrees Fahrenheit for 2 to 4 hours. After theyâre sufficiently dried to be used in cooking, you can consult the nearest cookbook for instructions on using them to effectively flavor a dish.

If you want to store your herbs for later usage, you should keep them in a plastic or glass container. Paper or cardboard will not work, because it will absorb the taste of the herbs. During the first few days of storage, you should regularly check the container and see if any moisture has accumulated. If it has, you must remove all the herbs and re-dry them. If moisture is left from the first drying process, it will encourage mildew while you store your herbs. Nobody likes mildew.

There is nothing like fresh herbs and especially, if you are the one that grew the herbs. So if you enjoy herbs or gardening, or both, then you should probably consider setting up an herb garden. It might require a little bit of work at first to set it up for optimal drainage, and pick what herbs you want to grow. But after the initial hassle, itâs just a matter of harvesting and drying all your favorite herbs. Did you find these herb garden tips useful? You can learn a lot more about how to grow herbs at the link below.

Italian Herb Garden Trio: Indoor Garden Gift Set incl. 3 planters, dip tray, seeds, peat soil pellets.

Admin — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 01:43:50 +0000

Italian Herb Trio.
Features a trio of aromatic herbs: basil, oregano and chives.
Set includes three 4" height x 3.5" width stoneware planters with a 11" long dip tray.
Premium seeds, organic soil and growing instructions are included.
Growing result will depend on external growing conditions including sunlight, water, temperature.

Product Description
Italian Herb Trio. Features a trio of aromatic herbs: basil, oregano and chives. Set includes three 4" height x 3.5" width stoneware planters with a 11" long dip tray. Premium seeds, organic soil and growing instructions are included. Growing result will depend on external growing conditions including sunlight, water, temperature.... More >>

Italian Herb Garden Trio: Indoor Garden Gift Set incl. 3 planters, dip tray, seeds, peat soil pellets.