I started the season off with 10 vegetable gardening must-haves and realized that I might just like writing about gardening.  Last year was our first trial run with a bigger garden and we learned a few things about what we should be planting and where.  I thought that I could share a few quick and easy tips to have you planning your own garden, it doesn't have to be big it can simply be a few pots on your porch or deck!  A fun touch is painting rocks to label your rows, it is also a great way for the kids to contribute!

Plan your herb garden around what you love to eat and you cannot go wrong! Adding fresh herbs to your cooking or just having them on hand for their natural benefits are great reasons to have an herb garden. There are many seed companies that specialize in herb seeds and many different varieties so you can find the taste that you are searching for. When thinking about planning your herb garden decide if you want organic herbs or hybrids and even GMO or non-GMO.

Plan Your Herb Garden

When planning your herb garden think about how you will use each kind of herb. Do you want fresh oregano or basil for your amazing homemade tomato sauce? If you are planning a chicken or turkey recipe then plant thyme, rosemary, and sage. When making homemade salsa, grow onion chives and cilantro. So many herbs to plant, so little time!  This year we started ours off in a mini greenhouse that we placed on the dining room table for maximum sunlight exposure!

When planning your herb garden, think about where you want to plant the herbs. They do great in containers or in an herb garden right outside the door. One of the best parts of growing herbs is that quite a few of them don’t need much room and can be tucked into spaces within other gardens such as flower beds. Most herbs need at least 4-6 hours of sunlight and like evenly moist soil.

If you want to plant a lot of different kinds of herbs, go ahead and order a few different herb catalogs. Warning though, make yourself a budget or you will order a ton of seed packets and that is literally thousands of seeds! Buying seeds gives you the opportunity to have a diverse amount of herbs in your garden. Seeds take work though! If you are late to the gardening season or a newbie and want to start with transplants first, you can for sure. Each nursery carries at least a dozen different herb varieties. The trick is to go to a few different nurseries as they each are supplied by different growers. You might only have one kind of lavender to choose from, but by going to a few different stores, you are open to other varieties that can grow in your area.

Another way to get your hands on seeds or transplants is to talk to your friends and neighbors. Most herbs are perennials and need to be divided every couple of years – which is the perfect time to ask for some for your garden. Planning your herb garden should be done with a lot of consideration into what you like to eat or how you will use that herb. Then once you know what you will use them for look at the different varieties that grow well for your zone. If the herb is an annual, sow seeds every week so that they will mature and you can harvest continually throughout the year. With just a little bit of planning you will have an amazing herb garden.

What's your favorite herb?

This post contains affiliate links, thank you for your support!