Container Herb Gardening

Do you love gardening and does the thought of having fresh herbs at hand, fill you with joy? For people stuck in those pocket-sized apartments, container herb gardens may be the answer to your woes. Not only does the container gardening allow you to grow your favorite herbs, it also provides a lovely decoration for your back porches or your kitchen windows. All you need is an appropriate container and a spot in your home that receives a lot of sunlight.

Container herb gardening can be categorized into two forms. While some gardeners like to grow ornamental herbs, most of container herb gardening relates to the growth of culinary herbs like basil, thyme and parsley. These herbs are easy and economic to grow from the seeds or seedlings. Moreover most of these herbs like basil, chives and oregano are fast growing. If you want to add lavender and rosemary which are some of the slow growing herbs, it is recommended that you use a sapling or a mature plant.

Choosing the Right Container

It is important that you choose the right container for your herb garden. It is true that there are plenty of choices available and you can choose any container like a terracotta pot or a long box. However there are certain glossy pots made of lead or other materials that you should avoid. Plastic or ceramic pots are an excellent option as they retain moisture better than the terracotta pots which tend to be porous.

The choice of the container is also dictated by whether you want it to be placed in a porch or a sunroom, in which case a long pot with two to three herbs is ideal. However if you choose to place it on the windowsill of your kitchen, small compact containers are the best. If you are using a window box for planting the herbs, the tallest herbs are placed at the center and the low herbs are placed at the ends. Trailing plants like oregano can be placed at the edges for that beautiful cascade over the edges.

Choosing Herbs for the Garden

A dilemma faced by many gardeners is the type of herbs that they should grow. Well, ideally you should grow those herbs that you can use for the culinary purpose. For example, there is no sense in growing Jamaican thyme when you hardly know what to do with it. Ideally even if you are not a big cook, start with the basics like rosemary, thyme, basil and parsley. The herbs you choose for your garden may also depend on the food you like. While for the Mexican food, herbs like cilantro and epazote are a good choice, Asian cuisines may demand that lemongrass or thai basil flavor.

Caring for Your Garden

Herbs require large doses of sunlight and a sandy, not too rich soil for optimum growth. If you plan to place the containers indoors, it is important to place them in a spot which receives direct sunlight. The soil should be well watered, therefore placing it in a spot where you can harvest it daily, might be a good idea. Herbs can be grown outdoors even in freezing temperatures. While the hardy perennial herbs will come back each year, there are herbs which cannot tolerate freezing and will have to be replaced each year.

The pleasure of a container herb garden is comparable only to the joy of using these fresh herbs to flavor your cuisines. What's more? It is right there at your fingertips!