Thursday, May 8, 2008

Want Herb Garden - Start it !

The most important aspect of planning is to provide enough space in the garden or pot for herbs, as they tend to flourish in organized environments. Since they can grow well under harsh conditions as well their growth increases under good conditions. For instance, Yarrow can spread over large areas, Chives get bushy and condensed and Lavender will spread all over. If they are given about a foot of space between each section, most will grow well. For instance, if you want your Chives to grow well, since they grow in a bunch, their roots will compete with neighboring plants for water and nutrients, if too close to them.

Since herbs require a lot of sunshine, sufficient space in and around them needs to be provided so that all parts get sufficient sunlight. Planting too many in clusters will prevent this from happening. You may even need to thin them if more growth than anticipated takes place.

Herbs do not require much preparation of the soil prior to planting. This however does not mean no preparation. A good assortment of herbs can be grown in compost or a mix of sandy loam and clay. Adequate drainage is to be provided for to prevent water logging, not advised for herbs. Since many herbs originate from the Mediterranean, they flourish in rocky and dry conditions with good drainage. All herbs do need to be watered to keep them moist but not soaking wet.

While for instance, Peppermint will require somewhat more water which can be provided by an automatic drip system, Lavender and Sage, just two to illustrate, can do with no watering at all. They do well with just the regular rainfall!

It will be a good idea to use some landscape fabric to keep weeds at bay. This will minimize the need to either root them out later or use herbicides. Herbicides incidentally may kill the weeds as well as the herbs as many are biologically similar. Spraying such chemicals may not be such a good idea, if you are planning on using some of these herbs in your food!

Insects rarely bother herbs. It would however be a good idea to be smart and use a diversion. Dill is an herb that attracts insects as a "trap crop". Such diversion will protect other plants such as tomatoes in the vicinity from the pests. If however, you wish to grow dill for itself, some use of insecticide will solve the problem.

Another area for proper planning is the timing of planting. Some herbs need to be planted immediately after the snow has melted, some at intervals of four weeks and some can be planted any time at all. Carefully planning this will make for a good garden.

Planned well, your herb garden will flourish with minimum care and effort.

Learn more about how to grow herbs successfully by visiting http://howtogrowherbs.net

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