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Archive for March, 2012

Tips On Outdoor Herb Garden Preparation

When you begin thinking about growing herbs, there are a few important things that need to be considered as you make your outdoor herb garden preparation. First, you need to pick the spot you will use for your garden and prepare the soil to receive the herbs you will be planting. Then, you will want to know which plants to start when and how they should be placed.

The first step in outdoor herb garden preparation is location. When you are growing herbs, it is important that you locate the garden in an area where there is plenty of sun exposure. Many herbs need at least six hours of sun during the middle of the day. Depending on how your property is facing, you will want to be careful to choose a plot that is away from shadows produced by your house, fences, and even large trees.

The next step is to prepare the soil properly so that water can travel the full depth of the soil and disperse rather than pooling around the roots. Making sure that it is well-drained will help you judge when to add water. It is important that you use nutrient rich gardening soil to mix into the soil in your garden plot for a well balanced soil that has a reasonable amount of organic matter. Some people like to add sand and compost to the soil so that not only is it full of nutrients but it is light soil that allows for proper drainage.

Another tip for outdoor herb garden preparation is that is you are planning to grow your herbs from seeds, you may want to first plant them in flats or pots during the late winter and keep them indoors so you can get a head start on the growing season. Once the frost danger is past, you can transplant them into the garden. If you are simply sowing the seeds in the garden plot after the frost danger is gone, a general rule is to plant the seeds at a depth that is two times their diameter.

During the winter when you are planning your outdoor herb garden preparation, you will want to think about which herbs to plant and when to plant them. For instance, basil and mint are great to start in early spring, while such herbs as garlic and ginger are great for fall planting. Always do your research so that you can put plants that need similar soil conditions together and so that you plant them with the proper spacing between plants.

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Planning Your Herb Garden For Spring Planting

For many people, spring planting is the perfect time to begin an herb garden. For most herbs, planting should wait until there is no more danger of frost if you plan to put the seeds directly in the ground. However if you want to grow herbs from seeds, you can also start your seeds indoors a few weeks before you plan to put them outdoors and then simply transplant them after the frost danger is gone.

However, planting seeds is not the only way to go. You can plant seedlings instead of seeds, whether you grow the seedlings yourself indoors before transplanting them outdoors for your spring planting or you can purchase seedlings from a nursery. These will come in seed trays that can often be reused. For instance, purchase your seedlings from the nursery this year and after you plant them in your herb garden you can save the trays for planting your own seeds indoors next year.

You can also get well established plants from your local nursery for herb garden spring planting. These may come in a flexible nursery bag or in a pot, usually made of plastic. You may even purchase a fully prepared and planted container garden where the herbs are planted in a large container that is designed to be your herb garden. This type of garden is self contained, and the plants may be a bit more expensive because the container is the garden.

Another method of starting an herb garden is to use cuttings. You can get cuttings from your friends who have herb gardens or you can take cuttings from plants that have already been established in your garden. Remember to take a new shoot that is quite vigorous and about three inches long. It should not have any flower buds on it. Cut it from the stem but leave a small portion of woody stem on it. Plant the end directly in the garden or in a pot. Hardy herbs like Rosemary are perfect for cuttings.

Remember, you can do the spring planting of your herbs using seeds, seedlings, established plants, or cuttings. You can start your herbs directly in your outdoor garden or in containers. You can also get your seeds growing using hydroponics. Hydroponics is a method of gardening to grow plants indoors using artificial lights and a special chemical preparation instead of actual soil.

Any way you grow your herb garden, you are bound to find not only great fresh herbs to add to your cooking but also a great deal of satisfaction from growing them yourself.

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