If you’re not the type of person that would like to spend their time managing an elaborate fruit or vegetable garden, it’s possible you’ll consider planting and maintaining an herb garden. As the product might not seem as significant, you’ll still benefit from the constant option of fresh, delicious herbs to flavour your meals with.

First you’ll need to choose the herbs you will plant. You might have a difficult time doing this because of the huge scope of herbs available. Even so the easiest way to select will be to do what I did; just take a look at what you have in your own kitchen. By planting your own collection of herbs, it will save you money  buying them from your food store while having the added benefit of freshness. A few of the herbs you might begin with include rosemary,sage, basil, dill, mint, chives, and parsley among others.

When choosing an area to place your plants, you should never forget that the soil must have extremely good drainage. Should the dirt gets watered and stays completely saturated, you have no chance of growing a healthy plant. One of the best tips on how to fix the drainage problem would be to dig a foot deep into the soil, and put a layer of crushed rocks down before replacing all of the soil. This would allow all that water to escape, thus saving your plants.

When you’re ready to begin planting herbs, you could be tempted to shop for the more pricey plants from your store. However, with herbs it is much easier to grow them from seed than it is with other plants. Therefore you can conserve a pile of money by staying with seed packets. Some herbs grow in a dangerously fast rate. For instance, should you plant a mint plant inside an open space then it will take over all of your garden in a matter of days.

An effective way to stop this concern may be to plant the more aggressive plants in pots with holes on the bottom allowing drainage, as expected).

When it comes time for you to harvest the herbs you’ve laboured so hard over, it may be fatal for your plant to remove too much. If the plant isn’t well established, it isn’t healthy to remove any leaves at all, even though it looks like its not using them. You’ll want to wait until your plant may be well established for at least  many months before taking off any leaves. This wait certainly will be of great benefit, because by growing unabated your plant will produce healthily for quite a while.

Once you’ve harvested your delicious home grown herbs, you’ll desire to use them in cooking. Why else would you have raised them? Well first the process begins with drying them out. This is easily achieved by placing them on a cookie sheet and baking them 170 degrees Fahrenheit for 2 to 4 hours. After they’re sufficiently dried to be used in cooking, you’ll be able to consult the nearest cookbook for instructions on using them to effectively flavor a dish.

If you would like to store your herbs for later usage, make sure you store them within a plastic or glass container. Paper or cardboard won’t work, as it will absorb the flavour belonging to the herbs. Through the first couple of days of storage, you must regularly check the container and find out if any moisture has accumulated. If it has, you will need to remove every one of the herbs and re-dry them. If moisture is left originating from a first drying process, ıt is going to encourage mildew when you store your herbs. Nobody likes mildew.

So if you enjoy herbs or gardening, or both, then you definitely should probably consider starting an organic herb garden. It may require some work initially to set it up for optimal drainage, and pick what herbs you wish to develop. But following the initial hassle, it’s just to do with harvesting and drying all of your favourite herbs.

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It might be surprising to some, but most herbs grow better in an indoor herb garden. A large number of herbs are annuals. Annual herbs and plants have a year lifespan. They grow and bloom in one season then within a year, they die. You may think that this type of herbs is too expensive, but you actually extend the life of your annuals.

Here are some key points explained in establishing an indoor garden.

Knowing the easy-to-grow indoor herbs

Annuals are the best type for indoor gardens. Since their lifespan is limited, they cannot be exposed continuously to changing weathers. Their roots usually have small growth; which is why they cannot stand the outside environment. They can be easily uprooted and their leaves would easily wither.

Some varieties of basil like Thai, Holy Basil or Tulsi and lemon, chives, scented geranium, lavender, rosemary, sweet woodruff and lemon verbena are some of the annuals appropriate in indoor settings. These could be grown in small pots and they could survive without constant exposure to sunlight. However, some may need to be taken outdoors once in a while. These would be further explained in the succeeding parts.

On the other hand, some perennials could also survive in indoor environments. They just need to be exposed outdoor from seasonally.

Having the right locations

Window areas, door openings, atriums and any area inside your house with natural lighting or close proximity to outside ventilation are the most suitable places for indoor herbs. Place them near the windows in the kitchen which should always be left open or at least ajar. Just a few hours under ample sunlight could make your plants healthier.

If you are into aromatic herbs, you most definitely want them placed in various parts of the house. But do make sure that you take them outside for at least one to three hours daily. Too much sunlight will cause their roots to dry up and that would result to frequent wilting of the leaves.

Perennials could also stay indoors but as much as possible expose them to sunlight regularly. Put them in places where there is most sun exposure. If you have limited space near the open areas, you could use chains to hang them instead.

Taking care of the herbs – on watering, pruning and soil maintenance

Indoor plants need as much water as outdoor plants. You can have them watered every other two days. But never drown the soil as this will make it too soggy to absorb other nutrients from the soil.

You can also do occasional pruning. But do not take out the drying foliage immediately. Letting them fall on the pot would make them possible fertilizers. However, if there are too much falling leaves, you have to remove some of them. They may be too moist, thus killing the roots.

Your soil should have regular peat moss or compost supplements. At least every three months, dig up an inch from the surface and put in a new batch. This is also a basic in growing herbs in pots.

Before annuals die, start repotting so you would not have to start planting all over. Trim off a healthy part of the herb. Each cut piece should have some roots and foliage already this will make it easier for you to grow them.

Now these three easy key methods would ensure you of a flourishing indoor herb garden all year round.

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Container Gardening For Those Will Little Space.

Before we had room for an in the ground garden we gave container gardening a try. When the conditions aren’t just right where they are.

Container gardening  really gave us the opportunity to grow flowers and vegetables without having yard space. Even though we now have a large property and lots of gardening space we still do the container gardening thing because we like it.

Container Gardening On The 11th Floor

When I lived in Toronto my home was on the 11th floor. Not much garden space but I made great use of the balcony and containers.

We even have containers with both vegetables and flowers growing around our little patio. It’s so cool to reach over and pluck a strawberry or tomato while I am playing my guitar outside.

This year we are going to have a few window boxes as well. I think they will make a great herb garden that I can access directly from the kitchen window. Now that will be very cool indeed.

Container Gardening Configuration

We don’t usually group our containers as we did when we didn’t have much room but I have seen some yards that have beautiful configurations of flowers in containers. I may give that a try this year and see how we can do with a themed container garden.

A container gardening tip that works for us is to just remove the plants that have finished blooming and swap them out for another plant that is just starting to bloom. Keeps your container garden looking fresh all the time.

I have to admit that I am no designer so I have to learn from what others do. I can look at an arrangement and like it but I find it hard to create it myself. One thing I have learned is that varying heights work but never put the tall plants around the short plants so that they don’t get sunlight. That doesn’t work well in the long run.

Choose plants with a long flowering season, or have others of a different type ready to replace them as they finish blooming.

Container Gardening Containers

Experiment with creative containers. You might have an old porcelain bowl or copper urn you can use, or perhaps you’d rather make something really modern with timber or tiles.  If you decide to buy your containers ready-made, terracotta pots look wonderful, but tend to absorb water. You don’t want your plants to dry out, so paint the interior of these pots with a special sealer available from hardware stores.

Cheaper plastic pots can also be painted on the outside with water-based paints for good effect.  When purchasing pots, don’t forget to buy matching saucers to catch the drips. This will save cement floors getting stained, or timber floors rotting. Always use a good quality potting mix in your containers. This will ensure the best performance possible from your plants.

If you have steps leading up to your front door, an attractive pot plant on each one will delight your visitors. Indoors, pots of plants or flowers help to create a cosy and welcoming atmosphere.

Decide ahead of time where you want your pots to be positioned, then buy plants that suit the situation. There is no point buying sun lovers for a shady position, for they will not do well. Some plants also have really large roots, so they are best kept for the open garden.

If you have plenty of space at your front door, a group of potted plants off to one side will be more visually appealing than two similar plants placed each side. Unless they are spectacular, they will look rather boring.

Group the pots in odd numbers rather than even, and vary the height and type. To tie the group together, add large rocks that are similar in appearance and just slightly different in size. Three or five pots of the same type and color, but in different sizes also looks affective.

With a creative mind and some determination, you will soon have a container garden that will be the envy of friends and strangers alike.

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Having enough knowledge about the common plant names is the key in order for you to establish a good windowsill herb garden. Many botanical shops deal with seeds and full-grown plants using their common plant names, thus you need to be able to match these names with their scientific names. There are a lot of ways to do this. You can use plant encyclopedias and databases, because they can give you images of plants along with the list of all their names. If you have kept any of the seed packets when you bought your plants, you will observe that naming the scientific name goes hand in hand with the common plant name.

In most cases, a common plant name is the latin version of the name translated into english. Common plant names for herbs are the following: Cudweed, Duckweed, Dove, Ammania, Beggarticks, Annual, Buttercup, Conzya, Crimson Monkeyflower, among others. For the flowering types, we have the Amazon lily, baby’s breath, African lily, Alpine thistle, bells of Ireland, tulips, roses, gerber daisy, clover, Amaryllis, among others.

If you are living in a region where poisonous plants thrive and grow, being able to know their common plant names will be able to prevent any confusion if ever you or somebody you know (especially your loved ones) will be exposed to them. Various names for poisonous plants include yew, poison ivy, pokeweed, english ivy, poison hemlock, poison oak, belladonna, alder buckthorn, foxglove, monk’s hood and poison sumac.

If you have been poisoned by these kinds of plants, look for medical attention immediately. Remember that plants that are toxic shouldn’t be kept inside your home, unless you have taken the needed precautions to prevent any kind of injury. Also, some herbs can become poisonous if they are not used appropriately, therefore a lot of references list useful herbs such as garlic, cinnamons and chives as poisons for improper usage.

Despite this, knowing the common names of your plants alone isn’t really enough to make sure that you can keep them in your windowsill herb garden. You still have to make some research about your plants and ensure that you live in the proper climate for your plants too. Doing this will guarantee that your plant will live a long and healthy life. In order for you to get more helpful information, you can also watch programs that give herb garden tips on TV, as these can be helpful as well in taking care of your plants.

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My mom was a gourmet cook and also had a green thumb. It seems she always had fresh herbs right outside our kitchen to use in her latest test recipe.  I have discovered that growing an herb garden really isn’t that difficult.  In fact, it doesn’t matter if you live in an apartment or have a large yard.  The type of soil you have doesn’t matter either and growing an herb garden can be done anytime of the year.

Growing an herb garden can be started with seedlings, indoors in early spring.  When the weather warms up your plants will be ready to put in the ground outside.  Start the herb seeds in 4 inch containers in a sunny location or in a greenhouse, if you have one.  You can use a variety of containers such as flats or trays instead of the individual pots.  If you plan to use old containers thoroughly clean them with one part bleach to nine parts water this will protect your herbs from any disease organisms.

If you choose a larger container, then several herbs of the same kind or different herbs could be grown together.  For the best flavor from fresh herbs, flower heads need to be removed.  When choosing herbs, there are annuals, which grow only one year, and perrinials, which return each year.  Some of the favorite choices include basil, oregano, and parsley.  If you want to grow an herb garden outside, you could choose larger plants that include lavender and rosemary, among others.  Then, for perennials, you might think of herbs such as chives, mint, sage, etc.  Along with pinching off flower heads, if herb plants get leggy, the stems would also need to be clipped back.

If you have poor soil such as heavy clay you may want to consider growing an herb garden in a raised bed.  Raised bed planter boxes can be made easily and filled with a rich soil mixture. These boxes provide great drainage that most all herbs require.  Place the planter boxes in an area that receives plenty of sun, possibly even a spot near the kitchen for easy access.  These planters are also great for planting and growing summer veggies or spring and
summer flowers for cutting.

As you can see, methods on how to grow an herb garden is actually relatively easy.  Therefore, if you love the flavors of mint, oregano, marjoram, thyme, basil, chives, sage, tarragon, lavender, rosemary, and other herbs, this would be a great option.  Without doubt, cooking with fresh herbs creates a wonderful flavor that does not come from dried herbs.

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