How to Start an Herb Garden
By Heather Roberts
Herbs happen to be pretty easy to grow when you have some sunshine, a well-drainable soil, proper irrigation and the right compost or fertilizer. Herbs can be grown in pots, but the plants will always thrive better when they are into the ground where they can freely spread their roots. Planting them in pots will only stunt their growth in the long run.
The main thing you need to consider when you end up growing herbs in your garden is to place them in the right location so they can benefit from environmental conditions as much as possible. If your summers are really hot, you will need to consider areas with enough morning sun and better shade in the afternoons to avoid the worst of the scorching sunlight. For the most part plants usually prefer a nice sunny environment as long as the temperatures are not in the extremes.
Soil preparation
The next step would be to work on properly preparing the soil for your brand new plants. Digging in with a large gardening fork will help loosen the soil so it can become more pliable and easier to work with. This will allow water to drain more easily and reach the roots of your herbs and other plants in the garden. This is a pretty important step to the whole process, as taking shortcuts on that will be a pretty disastrous solution. This will help prevent any problems with drainage and you can add more fertilizer to the garden to deal with things safely.
Healthy plants and irrigation
The final steps to making your garden have strong and healthy plants is to deal with irrigation the right way so nothing can go wrong. Most herbs will be pretty well when watered as soon as the soil a few inches below the surface becomes dry. Since humidity and temperature can vary with each week, you will need to check the soil more often before you get the job done. You should avoid overwatering your plants, since more water may actually cause poor and soggy conditions that would only make plant growth harder, not to mention heighten the risk of molds and rotting of their roots.
Harvesting of plants
Harvesting can be fairly easy, just cut about a third of the branches when the plant reaches a height of about 8 inches or so. Cutting close to the leaf intersection will allow your plants to grow anew with enough motivation, so you will have nothing to worry about. Certain plants such as parsley will grow new leaves right from their center, which makes it a requirement to remove the oldest branches completely, allowing the new ones to grow instead. This will become more evident when the plants grow in your garden.
Growing herbs in containers
Herbs are far easier to grow than many houseplants, so a sunny and warm place as well as larger containers can be enough to make your own small garden. A patio or a sunny deck as well as other areas will be a great way to solve your issues. Growing in containers is a great solution for apartment living where you don't have the garden plot you need. Read more at: landscapersgardeners.co.uk
Author Bio:
Heather Roberts is a freelance guest blogger from London, UK. She has many published articles on various topics such as gardening, landscaping and home maintenance etc. She loves to spend her time with family and friends and she also tries to live an eco-friendly life.