Herb Garden Information

Many people would love an Herb Garden of their own but  do not know where to start. The first thing for someone who would like to have an herb garden is to decide what herbs it is that they want to grow. If you are mainly looking to enhance your cooking than a culinary herb garden is the way to go, there is not anything as delicious is a meal prepared with fresh picked herbs. If you are looking for a alternative remedies for illness or physical pain you would certainly want to look into medicinal herbs or maybe you are looking for fragrances and oils for making sachets or potpourri there are herbs for many uses.

Herbs To Start Your Herb Garden

Parsley (Petroselinum crispum) -A biennial grows best in moist, well drained soil, with full sun.

Sage (Salvia officinalis) - A small perennial with woody stems, grayish leaves, and blue to purplish flowers.Establishes easly used in both cooking and medicinal use

Rosemary(Rosmarinus officinalis) - A woody, perennial herb with fragrant, evergreen needles will grow rather large in the garden withstands drought like conditions well.

Thyme (Thymus Vulgaris) – A low growing, woody perennial. It is extremely fragrant and flavorful and grows well in tough dry conditions. Used both medicinally and in cooking.

Sweet Basil (Ocimum basilicum) -Very sensitive to cold, with best growth in hot, dry conditions. Used in cooking and will do well if flowers are kept pinched off.

Oregano (Origanum vulgare) – A perennial ground cover used extensively in cooking the Greek variety holds up best with good flavor.

Dill (Anethum graveolens) – Also known as dill weed is a perennial and therefore can last several years in warmer climates treated as annual in northern areas. Used in cooking .

Marjoram (Origanum majorana) – An annual the plant is cut just as it starts to flower and the leaves dried for use in cooking.

Peppermints (Mentha × piperita), Spearmints (Mentha spicata) – A perennial Plant in the mint family are very hardy perennials with vigorous growth habits and very invassive best grown in containers.

Growing Conditions And Herb Garden Tips

An herb garden does not take up a lot of space even an area that is only 4 x 6 feet is sufficient to grow all the herbs that a family would need. You can grow herbs whether you are using them for cooking or not. Herbs will give you an added element of fragrance to the garden. Many herbs also have interesting foliage or flowers as well to add to your gardens appearance.

Most herbs will grow from seed sown directly into the garden and do quite well. It is much cheaper to buy seeds than already grown plants and the seeds will quickly establish and produce plants that will grow well and produce as good or better than potted herbs.

Most herbs do well in good garden soil that dries quickly. Herb plants do not like wet feed and will die quickly if the soil does not drain. Fertilizer should not be used as most herbs will not produce as well and it will cause them to loose some of their potency.

If you are growing annual herbs that mature quickly make sure to do several plantings through the season in order to maintain fresh harvest.