Tips For Growing A Container Herb Garden

Planting a container herb garden provides advantages that cannot be achieved through growing herbs in your garden. Container herb gardening provides the mobility necessary to protect your herbs from harsh outdoor weather and seasonal conditions, as well as predatory animals and insects. You will enjoy cultivating your herbs year-round in a more stable and forgiving environment than can be achieved through outdoor planting.

Selecting the right plants is the first step to successful container herb gardening. Other key factors to success include providing good, rich soil and controlling moisture and nutrients. Whether these factors are provided by nature or adjusted artificially, they are the key elements to your success.

If you intend to do container herb gardening, you have many options. There are a number of herbs that you can choose from. Dill, lavender, mint and sage are a few such herbs. Additionally, some herbs will prosper in a variety of containers. For example, basil can grow in an old teapot and rosemary can be successful in a coffee can.

The most important key to a successful container herb gardening is to begin the process with high-quality seeds. Air can cause seeds to go bad, for air contains spores that can invade and ruin seeds. A solution is to be conscious of the dates on the package and also discard any seeds that get wet.

It is very important to select the best locations for your container herb garden. To choose the best location, you need to find out what type of exposure the plant will need. While some do very well in partial shade, other plants need much more sun. For example, Basil requires warm soil in addition to dry air and is sensitive to the cold. If you choose to grow the plant indoors, it will need to be close to a window to get enough light, but be cautious not to put it near a frosty window in the winter.

Sunlight enters our homes in different angles based on our geographic location. In most areas of the Northern Hemisphere the sunlight enters from the south. Plants that need maximum or full sun exposure should be placed in the southern areas of your home. Plants that need partial shade should be place in the northern areas of your home or in shady areas.

The maintenance of the soil is an integral part of maintaining a successful garden. It is critical that you prepare your soil correctly and that you are able to keep the proper moisture content. With lavender, it is important to have dry, alkaline soil. Clay chips incorporated into your soil are a great tool for retaining moisture, for the clay absorbs water readily and holds on to it. Having a mixture of sandy and clay soil is a good idea.

Remember that over watering, leading to root rot, is the most common issue with container plants. Water as needed, for each individual herb; for example, peppermint grows best in moist soil while sage prefers a more arid environment.

Remember that to be moist is not to be soaked. Moist soil should feel springy, while dry soil is hard. Next, you can use a toothpick or a moisture gauge to stick in the soil. When you remove the toothpick you will be able to tell if the soil is wet or dry. The gauge’s reading will be more useful and more precise, though.

You will have no trouble maintaining a container herb garden as long as you take the time to do some planning before hand.