Friday 29 August 2008

A Guide To A Beginner's Herb Garden

by Rachel Ray

Herbs have been around forever it seems and serve different kinds of purposes. Herbs have been used to treat illness, maladies, and flavor cooking as well as being used in many craft type projects. Interested in starting your own herb garden? Here are a few pointers on how to start an herb garden.

Time to come up with a plan. Think about the various types of herbs you'd like to try and the purpose of those herbs, such as for specific recipes, etc. Would they be annuals, biennials or perennials? Make a wish list.

Time to research some specific information on those plants. How big will they be full grown? What are their sunshine and soil requirements? You can get a book at the library or gardening catalog of some type that will list those variables for you.

Make your garden plan on paper first. Separate the annuals from the perennials so when the time comes that you have to pull out the annuals, you won't be disturbing the perennials. Perennials can be planted on the edge of your garden so when it is time to till your garden they won't be in danger of getting dug up, or try to place them in an area of the garden all their own.

Some tips would be to consider planting the taller plants towards the back of the garden and the shorter ones in front. Give your plants plenty of space to grow and mature to avoid overcrowding. Be sure to consider their sunlight requirements as well when choosing which to position to plant each plant.

If you would rather keep herbs out of your garden (and some are quite invasive) you could have herb pots. These are large containers with three or more outlets for the herbs. Fill the pot up to the first outlet and plant it before continuing on with the filling and planting process. Usually, the herb that requires the most water is planted in the bottom hole, while the variety that requires the least, goes in the highest hole. Use a great quality potting soil and make sure it has proper drainage.

You can also have a square shaped herb bedding area. You can divide your square bed into sections. Consider edging it with stones or bricks for a lovely look . A wooden ladder can be used as well. You lay it down on your garden and plant your herbs between its rungs as a divider. You can opt to use a wagon wheel in the bedding. Planting is like planting with the wooden ladders only it will be a circular shape.

Different plants have various requirements, but many of them need alkaline soil. This is the reason why it's important to discover your plants needs before you begin the planting process. If you germinate your herbs from seeds on your own, remember to follow the directions on the packet for soil, watering and temperature and when it's safe to plant them in the spring.

Herbs are some of the simplest plants to grow. You need to provide them with effective drainage, sunlight, enough humidity or moisture and fertile soil. With these basic conditions they are bound to produce an awesome harvest.

You'll also want to consider what you plan to do with the harvest. Will you cook them fresh? Freeze or preserve them in some other way? You'll discover that you have some favorites each year and which ones didn't perform as you would have hoped.

About the Author:

No comments: