How to Start an Herb Garden

Here’s how to start your own herbs in a back garden or in containers.

Move over, dried herbs: nothing makes a dish more appetizing and flavorful than a big fistful of the fresh stuff.

Whether you're adding chives to blistered snap peas with brown butter, dropping some mint into a crispy goat cheese and spinach salad, or just floating a sprig of lavender and rosemary into some lemonade, fresh herbs make all the difference.

You can try your hand at growing an indoor herb garden on a sunny windowsill or with an LED grow light. But once warmer weather arrives, it’s time to head outdoors.

Most herbs grow equally well in both raised beds and containers, so you can enjoy their flavors even if you only have a deck or balcony for gardening.

Herbs also are some of the easiest plants to grow, so they’re perfect if you’re a new gardener. You’re not going to have to fuss over them to get a bountiful harvest!

And you’ll almost never have to deal with pests or disease. Best of all, growing your own herbs is cheaper than buying those plastic supermarket containers of herbs, which always seem to go bad in a day or two.

Ahead, are five important things to consider when you start an herb garden:

When planning where your herb garden will go, look for the light.

To grow well, most herbs need at least 6 hours of direct sunlight per day. A few herbs such as thyme and cilantro will tolerate some shade, but most love the sun—and the more, the better.

Watch your potential garden spots for a few days to figure out how many hours of sunlight each area receives to find the best location.

When it comes to other considerations, herbs can be more flexible. They are tolerant of poor soils, including sand, so you don’t really need to add any fertilizer before putting them in.

However, they don’t like heavy clay or sopping wet conditions, so make sure the area drains well. You can also plant them in a raised bed or containers. Working compost into your garden beds will improve soil consistency and drainage.

It’s also important to know that many herbs are weed-like in their ability to thrive. In fact, you may want to keep some herbs, such as oregano and mint, in containers just to keep them from taking over your entire garden. Trust us on this one!

There are two main categories of herbs: annual and perennial.

There are plenty of great perennial herbs, which you'll be able to harvest for years after planting, such as thyme, chives, oregano, sage, mint, lavender, tarragon, and Roman chamomile. In warm climates, rosemary is also a perennial, but in the north it’s considered an annual.

There are many annual herbs to consider as well, including summer savory, dill, cilantro and basil, which is available in many different varieties. Basil is one of the few herbs that sometimes struggles with diseases such as downy mildew and leaf spot, so look for newer varieties, such as columnar basil, which is more disease-resistant. Parsley is a biennial, meaning its will last two years before you need to replant it.

Seedlings (small, already-sprouted plants) are available widely and will give you a head start on your harvest. You can get them into the ground in mid to late spring.

To plant a seedling, simply dig a hole about twice as wide as the root ball, backfill the soil, and tamp down to remove air pockets. Then water well. If you haven’t had rain for a week or so, poke your finger into the soil; if it’s still wet, wait another day or two to recheck before watering.

But some herbs, such as basil, dill, and cilantro, are easy (and much cheaper) to grow from seed. You can start seeds indoors before the season's last frost.

Outdoors, most herb seeds will need soil temps in the 60s and 70s to germinate, Some, like basil, won’t tolerate cold at all, so you will need to wait until all danger of frost has passed before planting either basil seeds or seedlings outdoors.

Once you’ve planted seeds, keep them slightly moist until the tiny plants emerge, then thin them for spacing about 6 to 8 inches apart. If you don’t have a ton of space, it’s fine to crowd a few into one pot. They’re pretty forgiving about being close together.

One exception: Give mint its own container so it doesn’t choke out everything else. It's a bully.

Some gardeners will insist that you pinch off flower buds so that the herbs don't bolt (start to grow quickly) and lose their full flavor. That's fine, up to a point.

But if you allow at least a few of your herbs to flower, the pollinators will thank you for it. Many herbs, such as sage, have gorgeous flowers that bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds absolutely love.

Additionally, though those plants may no longer make great herbs, they will make seeds, which can be collected and used the following year.

One of the best thing about growing herbs is that you can keep harvesting them all summer long. Start picking leafy herbs when a plant is at least 6 to 8 inches tall. Snip here and there to keep the plant even all around, and don’t cut off more than a third of the plant at a time.

While most herbs are grown for their leaves, some, such as chamomile or calendula, are grown for the flowers. Dill and cilantro are used fresh and also harvested for their seeds once the flowers dry out (cilantro seeds are known as coriander, FYI!).

If you’re nearing the end of the growing season, and a frost is expected, harvest the bounty and dry or freeze leaves and seeds so you’ll have plenty to use all winter long. Or basil can be blended with a little water or olive oil and frozen in ice cube trays. Now, start growing!

Arricca Elin SanSone has written about health and lifestyle topics for Prevention, Country Living, Woman's Day, and more. She’s passionate about gardening, baking, reading, and spending time with the people and dogs she loves.

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