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How to Plan your Herb Garden
by Monica Resinger
An herb garden can bring a person a lot of
pleasure because there are so many things
that can be done with herbs such as herbal
crafts, herbal teas and herbal seasonings.
On top of this, you get to care and tend
for the plants, which, if this is all you
do, is enough reason to grow an herb
garden. Seeing how the herbs mingle
together and enjoying their fragrance are
other benefits.
By planning your herb garden, you will
eliminate any frustration that may arise
from planting an herb in the wrong area.
For example, if you plant Basil in a very
shady area, it will not grow as well as if
it were planted in a warm, sunny area.
Also, your herb garden will bring you more
satisfaction if you plan which herbs you
will use.
The first thing to think about when
planning your herb garden is location.
Full sun is the best for herbs, but it has
been my experience that most herbs will
grow in partial shade. If your herbs are
planted in partial shade, they may not
grow as fast as when planted in full sun,
but they will do just fine. The place to
avoid is full shade; herbs simply will not
do well in full shade.
When you have decided on a location for
your herb garden, it's time to figure out
which herbs you'd like to grow. To figure
this out, ask yourself why you want to
grow herbs. Is it for cooking, teas,
potpourri, fragrance, or a combination of
all these? Whatever reason you decide
you're growing herbs for will help you
decide which herbs to grow. If it's for
cooking, which herbs do you currently use?
You could grow these, plus others that
have caught your interest in the past. If
it's for any of the other reasons, do some
research first to find out what herbs are
good for that interest. Visit the library
and choose books on that subject, or
search the Internet for information. Ask
your herb-growing friends.
You will also need to find out if the
herbs you have chosen will grow in your
zone and soil type. Again, the library and
Internet will be good sources of
information.
Now that you have chosen the herbs you
want to grow, it's time to put them into a
plan. First, make a list of the herbs you
will be using, leaving a space for its'
description of height, foliage and/or
flower color, and spacing requirements. To
find these requirements, look these plants
up in a gardening reference book. Decide
what shape of bed you'd like and what
size. Keep in mind that to be easily
accessed, an island bed (a bed that can be
accessed from all sides) should be no
wider than 5 ft, and a border bed (a bed
that can only be accessed from the front)
should be no wider than 2-½ ft.
Now take a piece of paper and a pencil and
sketch in the shape of the bed. Look at
your list of herbs and place your herbs
according to height, and which plants
would compliment each other. You can do
this by sketching or writing in the names
of the plant. If you change your mind
about something, simply erase and change.
As you are placing your plants, make notes
of how far apart the plants should be
spaced. You may even want to go as far as
using colored pencils to do some
color-coding or to color in the color of
the plants. This sketch is your rough
draft. You can use this as your planting
guide.
The planning process can be just as
enjoyable as planting and caring for the
herbs. It also enables you to get to know
your plants before they are even planted.
Finally, as mentioned above, it will save
you a great deal of frustration, so take
the time to plan your herb garden.
About the Author:
Monica Resinger publishes an e-mail newsletter for homemakers that
poses fun questions to readers about organizing, crafting, gardening,
frugal living and other homemaking subjects; readers can respond to
the questions and receive the resulting, very informative 'tip sheet'.
If you'd like to join the fun, send a blank e-mail to:
HomemakersJournal-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
to subscribe.
Let's Get Cooking!
While there are many reasons for teaching kids to cook -- less expensive than eating out, preserves family heritage, etc, the most important
reason is that by teaching your child to cook, you're giving him a better chance to be a healthy grown-up. Enabling your child with the ability
to appreciate freshness and to transform ingredients into tasty foods opens their eyes to making wiser choices about what to eat...
by Monica Resinger
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