Herbs do duty for homeowners, including flavor to cooking and fragrance. Others stay neat and clean while some herbs like rosemary, lavender and lemon balm require a great deal of space. Whether you need basil cilantro for the zing of the southwest or tarragon it’s within your own space and your reach.
Pick a place that receives at least six hours of sunlight. In foggy regions through 17 in Sunset Climate Zones 14, the best choice would be to the south west or southwest.
Select herbs that are low-growing, like oregano thyme and mint, to expand around the edges of the garden; or, those herbs will tumble down the surfaces of the containers, in case you are planting in containers.
Choose herbs like parsley, basil and chives . Fennel and plant dill on the east or south north side of the garden so that they do not block the sun in the plants. Harvest fennel and the dill frequently to keep them. Both dill and fennel grow between 3 to 5 feet tall. Another option is to plant seeds of every four months and crop the seedling.
Double dig the ground. Start a trench at one side of the garden. Eliminate the dirt to the left or right, it doesn’t matter, just be consistent. Insert a quarter as compost and a quarter as much organic matter as soil that is removed. Organic matter may be kitchen scraps or manure, such as vegetable peelings. For instance, if it looks like you have four buckets of dirt, add one bucket of organic matter plus one bucket of compost. Mix well and substitute from the trench. Continue until all of the soil was dug and enriched. Rake smooth.
Place the herbs in the garden twice as long as you would ordinarily. For instance, basil would be spaced 10 to 12 inches apart, so plant 5 to 6 inches apart.
Fertilize with half-strength plant meals twice as frequently as package instructions.
Pinch off growth to keep the plants compact and bushy. Dry the clippings or use in cooking. New expansion is tastier than growth. When the herbs visit flower the taste of the herbs fades. Pinching off the expansion delays flowering.
Assess for snails and slugs. Deter them filling jar lids using beer. The slugs and snails autumn and moan, albeit thankfully. Aphids can be a problem for dill, fennel and cilantro. Knock them off the plants with a powerful spray of water. If the infestation is severe, spray the crops with a mix of 1 teaspoon of not dishwasher — soap to 1 quart of water.