Have fun planting a container herb garden. Its practical and easy, and you don't need much space to do it! A container herb garden looks good and is a convenient way of providing the freshest herbs for your kitchen.
It doesn't take long. A container herb garden can be planted overnight!
Containers
Gather a range of interesting containers that will compliment your style, your house and your kitchen. A large range of containers can be used.
If you have a modern, minamalist kitchen style, choose containers with clean lines in plain white, or a brushed steel finish. Either the shape or the texture of the container can provide the focus needed in a modern, or minamalist kitchen.
Most porous containers can be "aged" by applying rainwater or yoghurt with a brush every few weeks. This causes a natural looking patina to develop on the ouside surface of the pot. These "aged" containers are ideal for use in quaint, cottage style kitchens.
Find your containers at second hand shops, local fêtes or garden centres. Tin boxes, tin cans or pails, ordinary clay pots, old jars, or anything that can hold a good soil mix can be used for your container herb garden, as long as they have good drainage.
Soil
The best growing medium for container herb gardens is a mixture of equal parts of coarse river sand, loam, and compost. Add a dose of slow release 3:1:5 fertilizer.
It is a good idea to place a layer of coarse gravel at the base of the container to improve drainage.
Water
Herbs vary in their water requirements. For instance, basil prefers growing in damp soil, while rosemary likes dryish soil. Read the instructions that may come with your herbs, or question your local nursery gardener.
If using a large container, placing a perforated section of hosepipe vertically in the container before building the soil up around it, can ensure a more even distribution of water. Just water through the central pipe!
Frost
If you live in an area that is prone to frost, you should protect herbs like tarragon and chives from being damaged. Planting your herbs in a container herb garden makes it very easy to move it to a more sheltered area when the climate dictates.
Herbs Suited To Planting in Containers
Herbs like basil, bergamot, borage, caraway, cat-nip, chamomile, chervil, chives, coriander, curry plant, dill, fennel, garlic, lavender, lemon balm, lemon verbena, marigold, marjoram, mint, origanum, parsley, rocket, rosemary, rue, sage, sweet bay and thyme are well suited to planting in container herb gardens.
All of these herbs, except for catnip, are great edible kitchen herbs. Lavender and chamomile are great for aromatic herb infusions.
Planting A Container Herb Garden
Great chefs and mediocre cooks can all appreciate the convenience offered by planting a container herb garden. Add some fresh taste and aroma to your cooking. It is, after all, those memorable meals that make a house a home!
