Useful Tips for Starting Your Herb Garden
Herb Gardens
Herb gardening is a pleasant and rewarding way to garden. Hardly any effort is needed because you need scarcely any space. The herbs grow without much care. You can start with just a few plants like rosemary and basil, and soon you will have more than enough for your kitchen.
Different Kinds of Herb Gardens
You need to determine the type of herb garden you want to grow. The different kinds of gardens are determined by what people like in their backyard. Herbs grow like weeds and establishing the sort of garden the suits you will keep you from being overwhelmed and is the beginning of having an herb garden you will cherish.
Indoor Herb Garden
If you desire fresh herbs within your reach or live in an apartment or small house, the indoor garden is a perfect choice.
You can turn a lonely windowsill into a sunny little garden with a collection of pots, keeping yourself abounding with teas, seasonings, and potpourri ingredients year-round.
Container Gardens
Container gardening applies to indoors as well as outdoors. It just depends on where you want your garden. Growing herbs in containers control the size and amount of each herb and where you place them.
It’s better than having a yard full of mint when you can have a decorative container of mint that matches your porch or patio. Mint, by the way, wards off insects like mosquitoes. Having a box of mint near your front or back door is not only beautiful but also practical.
Herbs in the Yard
There are good reasons to grow herbs outdoors in your yard. You save money by not purchasing them in the store. Your spices are fresher, add beauty to your yard, and benefit the outdoor environment. The environment benefits because some herbs ward off unwanted insects or animals like flies and cats.
Where do you grow your herbs?
Variety of Herbs
Most herbs grow without any problems as annuals, biennials or perennials. Each plant is distinct, with a purpose to add flavor and beauty as it grows. Some are for cooking, health or both. Some grow herbs for their aroma or scent, called aromatic herbs, adding pleasant whiffs to perfumes, oils and toiletries. A few common ones are mint and lavender. Some gardeners like to grow herbs for culinary purposes. Basil, Dill and chives are popular and keep food tasty.
Ornamental Plants
Another fun way to grow herbs is for ornamental purposes. A dried or fresh herbal arrangement adds beauty to the home by arranging the dry spices in a vase or tied with a string. You can plant them outdoors around flowers. Mint and lavender help the yard look more appealing from the curb.
Medicinal Herbs
During ancient times, herbs were used as a medicine because the ancients believed the herbs had the power to heal many ailments, which they did. They also think that herbs could ward off evil spirits, evil thoughts, bad luck, and so forth.
Today, many herbs help heal for medicinal purposes with success. Oregano oil is proven to be a natural anti-bacterial agent, warding off colds and flu symptoms. When primed as a homeopathic tablet, Arnica helps the body heal, reduces bruising and relief from swelling. Peppermint helps relieve congestion, and chamomile soothes the stomach.
Start Planting Your Herb Garden
As mentioned before, many benefits come from creating herb gardens inside or outside. Because herbs can take up very little space, you can start a garden anywhere. Select your favorite herbs for the first year, and each year, you can add a new herb to your garden.
The majority of the herbs thrive in fertile, well-drained soil and have a neutral pH of 6.5 to 7.0. Most of the seeds are delicate and tiny. When you plant them, lay them on the ground without covering them entirely, sprinkle lightly with soil, keeping the surface moist.
When you plant them, lay them on the soil without covering them fully, sprinkle lightly with soil, keeping the surface moist. You will need to thin the seedlings so they have room to grow once they start rooting. Before you know it, you will have a thriving herb garden.
© 2017 Kenna McHugh