Herb Gardening

Planting Herbs Outdoors

Outdoor herb gardens not only provide you with delicious herbs to use in your kitchen, but can add a beautiful attraction to your yard as well. As far back as the Middle Ages, royal houses would have intricate knot gardens planted within their castle walls to serve both practical and aesthetic purposes as well.

The modern gardener can take advantage of these same things when planting herbs outdoors in their own yard. An outdoor herb garden can be as simple or as complex as you want it to be. It all depends on how much planning you are wanting to put in designing your herb garden.

Planning Your Outdoor Herb Garden

The first step in planting herbs outdoors is to decide where you are going to put them. Almost all herbs that you could desire to plant require the same conditions. Good drainage and full sunlight are essential. You should also put your herb garden in a location where it will receive good airflow, to keep the herb plants from getting to damp and mildewing.

The size of your outdoor herb garden can be as big or as small as you would like it to be. Just keep in mind that your herb plants will need to have adequate spacing in between them so that they not only receive good airflow, but are also easier to tend to as well.

Planting Your Herbs

You will want to prepare your soil before planting any herbs in the ground. Since herbs require soil with good drainage, you may want to create a raised bed to plant the herbs in, so that the soil does not become too wet if it rains or when you water your plants.

The soil needs to be worked with organic nutrient rich compost, which will not only help to create good drainage, but will provide the herb plants roots with the chunky organic matter that they love. Herbs need to be planted deep enough that their roots will be able to set properly, so you should plant the herb seedlings so that the first true leaves of the plant are right under the top layer of soil that covers them.

You should already have your garden plan in place so you will know where you are wanting to put the herbs. Plant the herb plants with enough spacing in between them so that you can easily get in there and weed them and keep the soil cultivated so that they remain healthy. Ideally, your outdoor herb plants should be spaced at least 6-8 inches apart, which will give you plenty of room around them to do what you need to do.

If you are starting your herb plants from seed in the garden, sow the seeds in the garden after danger of all frost, placing just a light dusting of soil to cover them. You will want to make sure the soil is thoroughly watered after sowing the seeds, and keep the soil moist. Once the shoots begin to come through, thin the seedlings out so that the plants can grow and not become too compacted together.