Herb Container Gardens
Indoors or Outdoors

How to grow an herb container garden; step by step. Click on image to see or download full size pdf to print.

Herb container gardens are a great way to grow your own fresh herbs for use in your kitchen!

Designing and planting an herb garden in containers can provide fresh herbs year-round.

They also make a lovely addition to your sunny patio, porch or balcony, as many herbs also have beautiful flowers when in bloom.

Herbs Ready in a Pinch...

Pretty Outdoor Potted Herb Garden

Probably no form of gardening provides more versatility than a container herb garden.

Growing herbs in containers makes it possible to successfully grow plants in conditions where little space or available time for gardening exists.

Container gardening is ideally suited for anyone with physical limitations such that prevent them from working in a traditional ground level garden setting.

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Indoor or Outdoor Herb Container Gardens

Growing Herbs in Container Gardens

An herb container garden near the kitchen door is one of the most practical and beautiful additions to any home. Fresh herbs within easy reach of the stove transform everyday cooking in a way that dried herbs simply cannot match.

This page is part of our Growing Herbs in the Garden hub, where you will find individual growing guides for all the major culinary herbs along with tips for growing herbs in the ground, in containers, and indoors through the winter.

Growing Herbs in the Garden — complete hub for all our herb growing guides, companion planting tips, and herb garden design ideas

Herb Gardening Can Be Indoors or Outdoors

On a balcony, rooftop, patio, deck, or kitchen windowsill, there are endless possibilities for growing a successful container herb garden.

Growing herbs in containers provides an extra dimension of gardening pleasure, both indoors and outdoors.

Spice Up Your Life or Your Patio!

Growing Herbs Adds Beauty to Porch or Patio

• A few herb plants grown in a container can spice up a patio with its fragrance.
  
• Container gardens can also solve the problem of poor soil conditions in your area.
• A container herb garden makes a perfect complement to garden fresh vegetables.

The Basics for Growing Herbs in Containers

Herb Container Garden Ideas

The containers may be decorative or plain and simple.

Container material choices include clay, plastic, wood, metal, ceramic, terra cotta, alabaster, and wrought iron.

• Recycled items such as a child's outgrown red wagon or discarded hanging baskets can be used.
  
• As long as the container is capable of holding in soil and allows water drainage, let your imagination run wild in choosing which pots to use!

Download Free Garden Planning Worksheets, Garden Diary, Zone Chart, Or Planting Guide

An advantage to growing herbs in containers is their portability.

You can move the plants from one location to another easily to accommodate the plant's growing requirements.

Another bonus to a container herb garden as far as maintenance goes is care of the garden requires only a short daily check.

Examples of Herb Blossoms

Container Herb Garden Success

Beautiful Potted Herb Garden

It is necessary to maintain a consistent moisture level.

Soil moisture should be checked in a container herb garden everyday.

To test the moisture level, rub a small amount of the surface soil from each pot between your index finger and thumb.

Ideally, water the planters before the soil becomes bone dry.

On the other hand, you do not want the soil to be soaking wet, as this may drown the plants!

Herb Container Garden in Half-Barrel

Herbs Suitable for Container Gardens

Indoor Herb Garden

The best approach to deciding which herbs to grow is to make a list of the herbs you are most likely to use.

Find out the growing requirements of each plant such as soil, light, and water.

Determine full-grown height and growth habits.

Balcony Container Herb Garden

Herbs suitable for a container herb garden include:

Thyme--likes lots of sun

Basil--prefers the indoors

Oregano--sun-lover

Tarragon--made for the shade

Lemon Balm--not picky

Garlic--plant in fall

Parsley--slow to germinate

Mint--partial sun

Dill--tolerant but some heat

Chives--bit on the shady side

Cilantro--protect from wind

Rosemary--adores sunshine

Sage--performs well in hot, dry conditions

Herb Container Gardens Tip

Fresh Herbs from the Garden

Grouping pots of herbs together helps the plants grow and deters pests. (Safety in numbers!)

Basil planted in a container herb garden on your windowsill should keep most flying insects away.

Harvesting From Herb
Container Gardens

Freshly Snipped Herbs From the Garden

As a general rule of green thumb, herbs possess the highest flavor in their leaves just before they bloom.

Harvesting herbs for fresh use can be done throughout the growing season.

Thyme, rosemary, and sage are among the perennials that require the actively growing shoots to be snipped in lengths of about six inches.

To harvest annuals, collect a few leaves as needed.

"Fine basil desireth it may be her lot to grow as the flower trim in a pot. That ladies and gents to whom ye do serve may help her as needeth, life to preserve." ~ Garden Wisdom

Herb Garden Growing in Clay Pots

For herb garden layout ideas ranging from simple container groupings to classic wheel and border designs, the Old Farmer's Almanac at almanac.com has five detailed herb garden plans suited to different spaces and growing styles — a useful reference for anyone designing a new herb container garden from scratch.

Old Farmer's Almanac — Herb Garden Plan Layouts — five herb garden layout plans including container gardens, wheel designs, and classic border plantings

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