How to Grow an Herb Garden in 4 Simple Steps – the Aromatic, Edible Garden of Your Dreams Starts Here

Do you want to plant an herb garden, but are not sure where to start? Never fear! Learning how to grow herbs is one of the easiest and most delicious ways to dig into edible gardening for the first time.

Growing an herb garden is a great project for beginner gardeners to try. Herbs don't require as much space or special care as most vegetables and fruits you can grow at home. Though, herbs do have some special needs that you need to learn about before planting.

Whether you have a huge yard with plenty of space to start the formal herb garden of your dreams or all you have is a windowsill, the basic steps for starting an herb garden are the same. I'll walk you through each part of the process, so you can start harvesting your very own homegrown herbs!

How to Start an Herb Garden

Starting an herb garden is a fun and rewarding project that gardeners of all experience levels can do successfully. Many herbs are annuals, so growing an herb garden with these plants is an easy, low-commitment way to try your hand at edible gardening. Here's how to start an herb garden in four simple steps:

1. Choose a Location

Most of the herbs that you can grow at home need two things: sunlight and well-drained soil. This means that when considering places in your yard to plant an herb garden, you need to look for a location that gets six or more hours of sunlight per day and a spot with soil that doesn't get soggy.

Many people also consider convenience when selecting a place to start growing an herb garden. Planting near the kitchen or near the house will make it easier to harvest herbs from the garden. Growing plants on a windowsill is another great way for beginners to get started herb gardening indoors.

There are lots of high-tech herb planters nowadays that make growing your own herbs practically foolproof. You don't even need to have any sun to grow with many of them because they come with built-in grow lights. This hydroponic herb planter from Click & Grow is a favorite among our editors. It's perfect for the total beginner with minimal outdoor planting space.

2. Prepare the Soil

Once you have chosen the location for growing an herb garden, you will need to prepare the soil. If the soil is sandy or clay heavy, add plenty of compost. Even if your soil is in pretty good condition, working some compost into the soil will help provide nutrients to the herbs while they are growing.

When growing herbs, do not use composted manures in the garden. These are typically high in nitrogen, which will make the herbs grow quickly but diminish their flavor.

Many herbs prefer a well-draining soil that's a bit on the dry side. Lots of the herbs that are common in the garden and the kitchen originate in the Mediterranean. So they have evolved to prefer a fast-draining soil that's rockier than what many of us have in our home landscapes.

You can amend soil in the ground or in containers with a gritty material like vermiculite, which you can get on Amazon and many garden centers, to ensure your herbs have good drainage. You can also try a specific herb potting mix, like this one from Rosy Soil, for easy container herb gardening.

3. Select Your Favorite Herbs

Choosing the best herbs to grow in your garden depends largely on what you would like to eat. Many herbs are annuals and will only grow for one season. This includes plants like basil, cilantro, dill, and parsley.

Replant them from seeds, like these ones from Burpee, each spring to start your herb garden over again. Or you can try collecting the seeds from your herbs to regrow them next year.

There are perennial herbs as well that will grow year after year. These include many woody herbs like lavender, sage, thyme, rosemary, oregano, and mint. Chives is another perennial herb that's very easy for first-time gardeners to grow. Burpee has tons of perennial herbs you can grow from seed or starts as well.

Not all perennial herbs will return after winter everywhere. Most of our common garden herbs are native to warmer climates like the Mediterranean, so many are not winter hardy in colder USDA growing zones.

4. Plant & Care for Your Herbs

Herbs can be started from seed or planted as starts from the store. Planting herb starts is easier than starting plants from seed, but if you are on a tight budget, starting herbs from seeds is a good option. Some herbs like lavender, rosemary, and thyme take longer to germinate, so keep that in mind when starting your herb garden in late winter or early spring.

Perennial herbs also take a year to establish and get big enough to harvest a lot of the plant. You can take a small harvest the first year, but don't deplete your plant's energy by harvesting more than one-third of the plant in the first growing season. With perennial herbs, you want harvests for many years to come, so help them get a strong start the first year.

Once you have you have planted your herb garden, make sure that it gets 2 inches (5 cm) of water every week. Also, make sure to harvest your herbs frequently. Many times when a new gardener is starting an herb garden, they are afraid that harvesting the herbs frequently will hurt them. Actually, the opposite is true for annual herbs.

Frequent harvesting of herbs will result in the herb plant producing more and more foliage, which increases the amount you are able to harvest. At the end of the season, you can also dry or freeze your herb harvest so you can enjoy home-grown herbs all year long.

Taking the time to plant an herb garden is very satisfying and easy. By starting an herb garden and growing herbs, you can add beauty to your garden and flavor to your kitchen.

Herb Garden Essentials

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