Gardening Basics

Growing A Container Herb Garden

Posted by Lee Dobbins

Planting a container herb garden provides advantages that cannot be achieved through growing herbs in your garden. Container herb gardening provides the mobility necessary to protect your herbs from harsh outdoor weather and seasonal conditions, as well as predatory animals and insects. You will enjoy cultivating your herbs year-round in a more stable and forgiving environment than can be achieved through outdoor planting.

But potting herbs in a container is not an easy task. You have to spend a bit more time making sure the soil has the right amount of water and that the container receives the right amount of sunlight for your plants.

If you’d like to try a herb container garden, there are a variety of herbs that can be grown in pots of all shapes and sizes. A small clay pot can do the job for thyme, while rosemary can be grown in a coffee can and basil in an old teapot. You can grow mint, sage, dill and even lavender in containers.

The most important item to consider are your seeds; seeds must be of good quality and in good condition- remember like any organic substance they are subject to decay. Airborne spores may also contaminate seeds, and oxygen reacts with compounds in the seed. Safeguard against problems with your seeds by following the freshness dates on packages and avoid using any damp packages.

You should choose a good location for your container herb garden. Some plants like direct sunlight, other will do great in the shade. For example basil needs warm soil and dry air, and is cold sensitive. When placing it near a window to get sun, it shouldn’t be an area that frosts in the winter.

Sunlight enters our homes in different angles based on our geographic location. In most areas of the Northern Hemisphere the sunlight enters from the south. Plants that need maximum or full sun exposure should be placed in the southern areas of your home. Plants that need partial shade should be place in the northern areas of your home or in shady areas.

Prepare the soil as directed and maintain the desired level of moisture. A trick for keeping soil moist is to add clay chips to the pot, but clay may hold water for extended periods of time- the reason that clay soil should be mixed with sandy soil. One plant that does well in dry, alkaline soil is lavender.

It is important to water the correct way. Container plants commonly develop a problem called root rot from too much moisture. Some plants like to be wet constantly, but most herbs prefer a dryer soil. Sage, for example, likes a dry soil, whereas peppermint likes it moist.

It is important to remember that moist does not necessarily mean wet. In order to tell the moistness of the soil, press your thumb into it. Moist soil will be more springy than dry soil. Another way to check is to insert a toothpick or moisture gage into the soil. The moisture gage will give you a more accurate reading.

You will have no trouble maintaining a container herb garden as long as you take the time to do some planning before hand.

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