Herb Gardening
By Nicky Pilkington, Tue Jan 10th

Herbs have been around since time immemorial and serveddifferent kinds of purposes. They have been used to treatillness and flavour cooking; they were even believed to havemagical powers. Do you want to have your own herb garden? Hereare a few ideas on how to establish an herb garden.

Plan your garden.

Consider the herbs you want to plant. Think about their types.Would you like annuals, biennials or perennials?

How much space will they occupy in your garden? If you want, youcan purchase a book that can give you the right information onwhat specific plants you are planning to grow.

List or draw your garden on paper first. Separate the annualsfrom the perennials so when the time comes that you have to pullout the annuals, you won't be disturbing the perennials.Perennials can be planted on the edge of your garden so when itis time to till your garden they won't be in danger of gettingdug up.

Another thing to remember is that you have to plant the tallones at the back and the shorter ones in front. Also, provideyour plants with enough space to grow. Proper position shallhelp you in this area.

If you would rather keep herbs out of your garden (and some arequite invasive) you could have herb pots. These are largecontainers with three or more outlets for the herbs. Fill thepot up to the first outlet and plant it before continuing onwith the filling and planting process. Usually, the herb thatrequires the most

water is planted in the bottom hole, while thevariety that requires the least, goes in the highest hole.

Some Design Ideas

You can consider having a square herb bed. You can have yoursquare bed divided into four by two paths crossing at mid pointmeasuring 3 feet. You can border it with stone or brick. Awooden ladder may also do the trick. You can lay it down on yourgarden and plant your herbs between its rungs. You can alsochoose to have a wagon wheel bed. Planting here is like plantingwith the wooden ladders. Plant your herbs in between the wagonwheel's wedges.

Get Your Plants Growing

Of course, different plants have different needs, but many ofthem require alkaline soil. This is the reason why you have todetermine the herbs you want to plant in the planning stage.This can more or less help you find out how you should care foryour plants. If you germinate your herbs from seeds, remember tofollow the directions on the packet for soil, watering andtemperature.

Herbs are some of the easiest plants to grow. You just have toprovide them with an effective drainage, sunlight, enoughhumidity or moisture and fertile soil. Even with just minimallymeeting these requirements they will be bound produce a goodharvest.

About the author:Find more about gardeningand some useful gardeningtips at AboutGardening