Herbs are easy to grow, require little amounts of fertilizer and space, and are great for novice gardeners. With the right techniques, growing exotic and flavorful herbs is easy. Despite the large number of interesting and flavorful varieties to choose from, creating your own herb garden can be quite simple and yet extremely satisfying. This article will teach you how to grow herbs indoors and outdoors successfully.
The Value of Herbs
There is no better way to get fresh herbs than to grow them yourself in an herb garden. Herbs make everything smell, taste, and look better.
Culinary enhancement: Herbs are useful in the kitchen to season your food and jazz up your meals. Fresh herbs that you have grown are more flavorful than the dried herbs you can buy at the supermarket.
Beauty and fragrance: Herbs add color and beauty to your balcony, patio, windowsill and yard. If you plant them indoors, it is an easy way to bring natural, earthy scents into your environment. You can also preserve the herbs as dried incense sticks to bring a calm herbal smell indoors or to make them into aromatic and creative gifts for your friends.
Medicinal purpose: Herbs have a generally positive effect on our health. Certain flowers, leaves and roots of herbs should be treasured due to their healing qualities. Some plants can be used for treating or relieving specific ailments such as indigestion, stress, anxiety, sunburn, headaches, coughs, colds, etc.
Excellent qualities: The chemical compounds that herbs produce in metabolic activities protect herbs from insects and disease, which makes them “low-maintenance.”
Picking the Location
Herbs can be grown indoors and outdoors. Two main things that you need to consider are adequate sunlight and soil drainage. Most herbs need six or more hours of direct sunlight per day to help them produce their essential oils, which will give herbs their flavor and aroma.
Indoors: Indoor planting is especially beneficial for novice gardeners who are just entering the world of gardening. If you are new to growing herbs, you may want to start with just two or three of your favorite herbs and add more as you become more confident and proficient. Growing indoors can maintain year-long growing seasons and require much less work than outdoor gardening. Some herbs do not need special lights and can be fine just on a windowsill that gets enough light. If you have space in front of a kitchen window, planting the herbs in small containers there will make your kitchen look like a lush land of freshness. Just remember the soil in pots dries faster than what’s in the ground, so you want to maintain a strict watering schedule, especially during the summer months. The other advantage of planting indoors is that you can easily rotate the containers so that all of the herbs have an even amount of sun. Too much or too little sun can affect the flavor of the herbs and result in crooked growth. The disadvantage of growing herbs indoors is that they tend to be less prolific and flavorful than those grown outdoors.
Outdoors: Some herbs thrive better in the ground where they can spread out. That does not mean you need a large yard to grow herbs because most herbs are compact and bushy plants that need little room. You can determine how many herbs you can grow by measuring the size of your yard and mapping out your yard on a piece of paper. When you pick a desired location in your yard, make sure the area is protected from intense heat and wind and gets at least six hours of sunlight. If you notice that your herbs are drying out quickly, consider moving them to a shaded area under a tree or taller plants so they do not receive direct sunlight at all hours of the day. In addition, it’s best to group the plants in terms of their preferences for sun and shade. Consider planting herbs as companion plants with vegetables and flowers. This will lead to mutual benefits for the herbs and the other plants around them. For example, basil attracts honeybees which are needed to pollinate tomatoes.
Taking Care of the Herbs
Once you have decided where you want to place your garden, you can plant the herbs as you would any other plants. How you care for the herbs contributes to the success of your herb garden. There are four important components you should consider when planting and growing your herbs.
Soil: Herbs are less picky than many vegetables, but appropriate soil should still be one of your main considerations. You cannot just run out to the backyard, dig up a little dirt and call it a day because ordinary garden soil is much too heavy and dries out too quickly. Also, the soil you use in your yard can get compacted easily and strangle the herbs. Soil mixed with sand and lime provides great conditions, allowing maximum growth for your herbs. You can add some compost, peat moss, or coarse sand to mix with the soil because that can help provide nutrients to the herbs while they are growing. It’s best to replace the soil after a year because it will lose its original texture and turn into a compost pile.
Container’s size: The size of a container can affect the plants’ health by stunting its growth or negatively impacting the amount of water it can hold. Small containers may also cause the roots to wrap around themselves in swirly patterns and start to choke the plant. In order to accommodate for the roots as your herbs grow, you should use a pot that is at least six inches deep and six inches wide. You can use a long and narrow pot if you choose to plant your herbs on a windowsill. The pot should also have drainage holes to allow water flow through the soil. You can also add pebbles to the bottom of the pot before you add the soil to aid in drainage.
Water: Water transports minerals to the plant, facilitates evaporation for cooling, and aids in photosynthesis. The following watering principles will help ensure a healthy and successful herb garden. Firstly, it is crucial to check for water daily and water regularly because you don’t want the soil to get too dry. You should also ensure that roots at the bottom of the container have access to water because if the water does not travel deeply enough, the chance of developing shallow roots will increase. This will result in a weaker harvest cycle. However, that does not mean you should saturate the soil with water. Overwatering plants water logs the soil and keeps oxygen from flowing freely to the roots of the plant. You should check for dryness in the soil and feel through the drainage hole for dampness before you water your herbs. Lastly, the watering schedule should depend on sun exposure, the seasons, and the size and material of your container as well as the species of the herb. For example, west-facing windows will get more sun exposure and much warmer than an east-facing window, and broader leaves need more attention to watering than narrower leaves.
Harvest: Make sure to harvest your herbs frequently because that will help the plants produce more and more foliage, which in turn increases the amount you are able to harvest in the future. The timing for harvesting the herbs is also critical. It tastes best when you harvest herbs in the morning because they have the most flavor before they bloom. Before starting to harvest, make sure your plants are well watered and not stressed because healthy herbs yield the best flavor. You should also try not to harvest more than a third of the plant at one time because it takes time to recover. Use scissors or clippers to trim herbs so you can get a sharp cut and avoid mangling the stems. By applying the correct harvesting techniques, your plants live longer and you will be able to enjoy homegrown herbs all year round.
Herbs are much easier to grow than many houseplants. All you need is a sunny, warm place and containers large enough for your plants to grow. Keep the soil moist, and water consistently to ensure your herbs stay healthy. By starting an herb garden and growing herbs, you can add beauty to your yard and flavor to your kitchen. 
Ning Qin
Home & Yard Magazine
