By Monica Resinger
An herb garden can bring a person a lot of pleasure
because so many things 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 Ask your herb growing friends.
Creative Home's free e-booklet 'Getting
to Know Mint' will help you learn about the the
herb Mint with Description and Varieties, Growing
Mint, Mint Problems, Caring for Mint, Using Mint:
Culinary Uses (includes 17 recipes), Medicinal Uses,
Garden and Household uses, Harvesting Mint and Preserving
Mint: learn how you can get this e-booklet free along
with many other homemaking e- booklets here: http://homemakersjournal.com/ebooklets.htm
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
each ones' 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 feet, and a border bed (a bed that
can only be accessed from the front) should be no
wider than 2-1/2 feet.
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.
©, 2001, Monica
Resinger
About the author: Monica Resinger
is the Editor of The Homemaker's Journal Ezine, a
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